Turning
by leneo
Summary: When two boys spend an afternoon in detention together they begin to see another side of each other. Yugi finds that he is becoming the object of fixation for a handsome cool boy. Atemu starts to question his own popularity as his own security is challenged. Can two social opposites sort their differences out? Or will the pressures of social classes break the apart?
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter 1_**

* * *

Atemu scowled at the settling snow and one could have sworn he looked like a fat vampire by his opened mouth and bared teeth wrapped in his many layers of warm clothes. He tightened the speckled scarf around his naturally tanned neck and marched a few metres over to his locker as he made sure the snowy nightmare was not in plain sight. His friend Bakura was leaning against the wall in close range laughing softly at Atemu's pathetic whimpers.

Atemu frowned at his friend's indecency to understand his own physical needs and one of them was that he was always within walking distance of a source of warmth. As he threw his bag into his locker he gave Bakura a sideways glare before he decided to pitch up a conversation about the weather. "Remind me. Why did I agree to go to school in Japan where it is bloody freezing for ten months of the year?"

Bakura shrugged, his head averted downwards to his phone screen as he played away at a cheap knock off version of Zelda. He lifted his face a moment later and seeing Atemu closing his locker he beckoned him over with an open hand. He hunched up at Atemu approached him and held a hand to the side of his mouth.

He replied with a soft whisper. "As an answer to your question I think that it is because there are no gay people in Egypt."

Atemu rolled his eyes as he pulled back from his crazy friend and a small smile evident on his face. "You are a fucking idiot, Bakura."

Bakura threw his hands up in the air and he shared Atemu's soft chuckle as he began to grin uncontrollably. "You love me!"

Atemu shook his head. "Don't let my father catch you saying those things when we go and visit."

"You are no fun sometimes."

Bakura pouted as he began to gouge into its surface of a locker with the point of a pen. Atemu rolled up his sleeve to check the time before going over to lean against the wall next to Bakura. They waited in companionable silence for the bell to go. Five minutes later a teen with long silvery hair materialized before them

He spoke with a voice made of silk. "Well, what brings you into my parlour?"

"Said the spider to the fly," Atemu continued as he lifted his gaze from his phone.

"Look what we have here, a king that is without his faithful knights to protect him," Bakura smirked as he dropped his pen inside his trouser pocket and pushed back from the wall. He was considerably taller than the teen in front of them although this did not seem to faze him at all.

Atemu knew that they would not be visited for a simple meet and greet party and frankly he was not in the mood for such trivial things. He was curious to see why he was before them. "I can assume that you are here for a good reason Pegasus?"

"Yami-Boy!" Pegasus exclaimed as his immaculate smile grew larger. "It would seem I could do with a little helping hand. How are my little friends doing?"

Atemu's jaw tightened as he was forced to look at the teen's delightfully sick clown-grin as he held his gaze upon Pegasus. Bakura was wondering around from side to side as he locked onto Pegasus and activated his hands through a flexing movement. If tempted he would have been off on a rampage.

"We have been good associates for a long time," Pegasus said. "You are my most trusted and valued friend. This is why I have ask you of all people to do something for me."

Atemu sighed. "Why don't you just cut the act and tell me what you really want us to know."

Pegasus' eyes began to wonder round the place. "I plan to enter a Duel Monsters tournament in a few months' time. I have a problem."

"And that is?"

"I have heard that someone is planning to ruin me and I cannot have that happen."

"What is the big deal?"

"The best way to tell you would be to begin with a short story which goes that when I was in middle school I had been a chess master and in my first national tournament at the age of twelve years old. I was put up against a shorter teen around my same age and we were in the final together. I had heard he was better than me and, well you see, he was a new comer and I had been national caption for almost three years. Within thirty turns he had my king cornered with his queen and castle. To avoid a humiliating defeat I placed by King sideways down on the board and forfeited my title. I lost my winning streak as king of games and I have never picked up a chess piece since then. It seems that this same teen thinks he can beat me again with Duel Monsters and I will not have it again. My reputation is at stake once more."

"Who is this person?" Atemu asked.

"He is Yugi Moto. I have been told he is in a couple of your classes which is why I thought you would be a good contact to have when dealing with him."

"If he stop him playing card games what will we get in return?" Atemu asked as he coolly played with his bag strap and maintained his eye contact with Pegasus.

Pegasus' sent him an all-knowing smile. "Let's just say that if you say no the whole school will know by Monday that two of its most prized students are in fact gay."

Atemu shook his head with a smirk. "You will have to do better than that."

"I suppose so," Pegasus mused as he rubbed his chin and placed a hand on his hip. His eyes darted off to the side for a moment and then back to Atemu as he dropped his thinking posture and sent the two teens a cunning grin. "How about this. I don't know what the leading force campaigning against the sexual rights move will say either when he discovers his treasured son is sweet for boys."

Pegasus had him.

Atemu dropped his smirk and turned to see what Bakura was thinking. They exchanged a silent conversation through brief facial expression before Atemu shot Pegasus a narrowed glare. Pegasus laughed triamphatly and began to walk away, knowing he had won their support. His whistling in celebration rattled Atemu's insides as he watched him go.

"Bastard," He muttered.

X

"How about this Yugi," Jonouchi leaned his shoulder against a locker as he spoke. "Kaiba even said he would fun our training for the tournament and we could enter together. It would be fun!"

Yugi spoke into the mouth of his locker as he listened to his friend next door. "That's great Jou, but I'm not sure I want to enter."

Yugi spent extra time inside as he dragged a finger down the spine of a book as he squinted his eyes to he read the title. He let himself pause for the moment to breath in the comforting smell of books and he could feel his insides relaxing.

He stopped abruptly.

He felt the bag that had been resting on the toes of his feet slip away and he pulled his head quickly out of his locker to investigate. Next minute, he found his head being slammed against the door.

Yugi shifted quickly and managed to free his head from the locker in time for it to close with a loud _bang_. He fell backwards at the sight of a tall monstrous teen. In a dazed state Yugi propped himself up with his hands and as he lifted his head he was confronted by a toxic stench which hit his tender complexion.

Jou launched himself as the teen using his skills from being part of the rugby team to tackle him effortlessly to the floor. The teen was shaking wildly to rid his back of the weight holding him down, growling like a wolf that had just been let loose.

Before Yugi had time react to anything he felt a strong pair of hands grab him from behind and throw him forcefully to the floor. Students had stopped to watch the uproar, phones pulled out and cheering. There was manic laughter and the chanting like they were spectators at a gladiatorial arena, watching a bloody fight between animals and men.

"W-w-w-w-h-h-at do you want?" Yugi asked through laboured breaths.

His neck stung from where the locker had hit him, and he clutched eyes tightly shut to help supress the pain. It always hurt no matter how many times he took a punch or kick. His back ached from being thrown to the floor and his mind was racing as he searched for any valid reason these boys would be targeting him. It was unlikely however that he would ever find one. Boys ticked their targets based purely on known ability and appearance, and everyone knew Yugi was weak. He had not upper body strength and his legs were so tiny that even a forceful kick would just feel like a poke. These bullies were likely trying to prove how strong they were. They would be desperately looking to fit in to the schools social scene which was measured on who far you would go to please _King_ Pegasus.

Yugi felt the force of a body on top of him, pushing the last bit of air out of his lungs as he was straddled around the waist as a chest was pressed firmly into his back. He gagged as he felt a rough hand grab his throat and twist his head awkwardly around. A sudden breath trickled down his neck which caused Yugi to shiver as a mouth came to hover over his exposed ear.

A deep voice spoke. "I am sorry."

The pressure on his whole body softened and the grip around his chin relaxed. A warm breath returned.

"Pegasus sends his greetings," the teen said. "He wants you to stop you card games or he is going to send more where this came from."

The teen stood up, the coldness of the floor being more evident with the loss of the warmth. Yugi opened his eyes for a few seconds after he became aware no one had hit him. He saw his attacker, a boy he recognized from a few of his classes, a look-a-like teen with tri-coloured hair the size of a mountain. Why was Atemu doing this to him?

His mouth slacked open as he tried to ask for clarification, but Atemu grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him to his feet. His held Yugi for a few seconds, his eyes narrowed as they took in Yugi's appearance. He looked like he was about to throw him back on the floor when his grip around Yugi's clothing began to go slack, his eyes becoming softer. Atemu lips began to part and his brow becoming tense as he began to mouth something.

Atemu was suddenly grabbed by a senior student, a prefect by the badge he wore. The sounds of students had roused a selection of teachers from their office and a red-faced teacher In particular has seen the ruckus and had already seized Bakura before he could deliver another punch to Jonouchi.

The teacher snapped as she blew on her whistle. "Detention for all four of you!"

X

Atemu lifted his head up from the desk hoping to catch the attention of Bakura as the teacher left the room, he whistled. The teen had managed to smuggle his iPod into detention so he was deaf to the entire class in that moment. Sighing, Atemu dropped his head back hopelessly into arms. It had only been five minutes since detention had started. He wished he would be doing homework rather than this right now.

_Fuck Pegasus and his way with words._

He could not believe that Pegasus had the upper hand with this one. He had no idea where the slimy teen might have got his information and he really did not care as long as his secret did not spread any further.

Most of all he did not want his father to find out or his life would pretty much be in shatters.

Silence came from the first-timers at the front of the room, the only sound was that of their pencils vigorously being applied to paper. Atemu was glad he did not have to see Yugi's face to be reminded he wasted his afternoon for Pegasus' bidding. However, he had to smile at the fact the teachers had put them _all_ in detention and not bothered to ask who had actually started the fight. If he was honest he did not like the parts where he had to physically hurt someone, but he had decided that just came with his job. Everyone had a part to play in Pegasus' game of thrones, and he had to do what was necessary to stay on top.

Bakura leaned back against his chair, holding a lighter to the end of a piece of paper, flicking the flame on and off as it kissed the paper edges. He did not seem bothered at all by the fact they were in detention, despite the fact it was becoming a weekly event.

"Why are you here?"

Atemu looked up, noticing a girl in some of his classes, Miho, was seated a few desks away. She was faced in his direction with a flirtatious flare, buttons undone to show a large part of her left breast. She pressed herself against the top of the desk making her boobs bulge even more as she looked him over.

"Me?" he asked, not surprised a girl like Miho was making an attempt at him. "Fuck off and mind your own business."

Laughing, Miho fluttered her eyelashes innocently, unaware that she sounded like a malfunctioning music player, a repeating sound stuck on one cord.

Atemu gritted his teeth, wishing people were not so curious about his personal life. He gave her a cold glare before he rekindled his interest in the clock. He leaned back in his chair, pushed his legs out, and then grabbed hold of his paper. Frustrated, he scrunched it up and threw it at a random person at the front of the room.

It was just his luck that it touched the one person he never wanted to see again. It hit the short boy in the back of the head, making a light sound as it slipped to the floor. The boy peered around curiously, as soon as the pair of eyes caught Atemu's intense stare, he retreated back to the front. Atemu smirked at Yugi. Maybe he could have some fun after all?

Atemu knew how to act when he wanted something and right in that moment he was bored out of his brains. Watching how the boy reacted showed him that he could have some fun. Before now he had not had much to do with Yugi, he was too much of a goody-good to draw his interest. Eying him now Atemu realised that he looked much younger than a high schooler, he was almost cute in a way… Atemu quickly dropped his line of thought.

The sandy-haired student spun around to look over his shoulder. His eyes locked on to Atemu as if they were equipped with ready-loaded rifles. Atemu recognized him as Jonouchi, a boy in his year who had always annoyed him.

"What do you want, punk?"

Atemu raised an eyebrow at the boy's outburst. "Did you really just call me that?"

"So what if I did," Jonouchi asked. "The way your cousin talks about you to me sure does scream 'punk' on the label."

"Tell me, what does he call you?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Puppy, am I right?"

"Shut up you bastard!"

Atemu did not make any effort to acknowledge that the boy had spoken, and pulled his hand up from the desk to look at his nails. Jonouchi got up from his desk, clutching his fists tightly and baring his teeth through an open grimace. Yugi shot a hand out to grab his friend's arm, looking at him with big eyes.

"Don't worry about him, Jou, he isn't worth it."

"I am sick of people thinking they can do whatever they want to you, Yug'."

Jonouchi paused on his advancement, turning halfway on the balls of his feet in the direction of his friend. He pouted slightly as he connected with Yugi's pleading eyes. The little boy considered his friend's situation for a moment before he slowly loosened his grip on his friend's arm and allowed Jonouchi to turn his attention back to Atemu.

"You think you are so cool!" Jonouchi spat, banging his hands down on Atemu's desk to get his full attention. "I don't care that you're Kaiba's cousin, the rule still applies. Why don't you stand up for yourself, instead of picking on people who are not as strong as you just to make yourself feel better?"

Atemu held his hands up. "I'm sorry if I offended you or something… I didn't do anything at all except-"

"You were picking on my friend, that's what!"

"By throwing a piece of paper?" Atemu asked, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn't even aiming at anyone in particular, it is nothing personal."

Bakura had snuck over to claim the top of the desk next to his friend. His mouth was stretched widely from ear to ear. Jonouchi was not fazed at all by the wild gaze he was held in, and he maintained his eye contact with Atemu.

Jonouchi threw his hands up in the air, before sending a forceful point with his right hand at Atemu. "If you touch him again, I will make sure you can never stand again."

"Why don't you prove it, then?" Bakura challenged, folding his arms and leaning back carelessly. "You are a wimp who can't even fight his way out of a blanket!"

Jonouchi redirected his pointed finger at Bakura. "You take that back!"

"No."

The boy lunged at Bakura, but wasn't quick enough to catch him, as he slipped off the desk in time to send Jonouchi landing headfirst on the floor. Bakura sniggered down at the Jonouchi's tied-up form.

Bakura dropped beside the fallen boy, pulling out his lighter, and holding it to his sandy hair. Atemu sighed, getting to his feet, and gave his friend a look of disapproval. He didn't want the both of them to get in any more trouble than they were in already.

"Why don't we test what will happen to his monkey's hair when we light it on fire, hmm?" Bakura sung lightly as Atemu approached him, his finger close to the trigger.

"Please, let him go," Yugi said, his quivering voice catching Atemu's attention. "You said you did not want to hurt us."

The boy was shivering, his face completely pale and his eyes wide at the scene before him. Tears were beginning to surface at the edges of his eyes. It was at that moment that Atemu wondered why he had never noticed how beautiful this boy's eyes… He mentally hit himself for thinking such thoughts, yet again.

"You seem different from the rest of them," Yugi said.

His eyes looked in horror at the scene before back at Atemu. "If are truly sorry about before. Why can you not make him stop?"

Bakura chuckled. "How pathetic."

He dropped his hand down and put his mouth close to Jonouchi's ear. "I think your little friend here is trying to save you."

Atemu snatched the lighter out of his friend's hand and chucked it on the desk top beside him. Bakura eyed his friend suspiciously.

"Bakura, I can handle these idiots on my own," Atemu said.

Reluctantly, Bakura pushed back from Jonouchi and collapsed into a nearby seat. Jonouchi mumbled something as he pulled his dishevelled form from the floor, brushing the dirt off from his clothes. He didn't look up at Atemu or Bakura as he limped back to his table.

Yugi was looking at Atemu with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. It was then he notice the warm colour of his purple eyes which shone with renewed hope for the teen in front of him. Yugi hurried to check on his friend's condition.

Atemu looked away.

He had never said no to Bakura before.

About ten minutes later, the silence was punctured by the screeching of a desk being dragged up against Atemu's desk, and moments later Bakura dropped himself down beside his friend. His eyes were burning into Atemu's skin as he held them there for a long time, expectantly awaiting his friend's attention.

Atemu closed his eyes for a second to calm himself down before he tilted his face towards Bakura. "What?"

"You are staring at that little freak and his friend."

"No."

"Then explain why you said no to me."

"Bakura can you give it a rest for fuck sake, he is the boyfriend of my cousin. We are in detention, and I just want to be able-"

"I was just trying to protect you!"

"And for that I thank you, but for once can you just let me fight my own fights?"

"For as long as we have been friends, it has been my job to protect you. Do you not remember that? The job your father gave me to look after his heir."

Bakura slammed a hand down against his desk when his friend did not reply. He stood up and took to the front of the class, pulling a box of cigarettes from his trouser pocket. He pushed a cigarette between his lips and used his free hand to light the end of it.

"Are you coming?"

Atemu gave him a blank look. "Detention."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "When has that ever stopped us before?"

Atemu ignored his friend, struggling with several questions himself, concerning his own problems. Bakura chucked his box and lighter back into his pockets and vacated the room. Atemu figured his friend wouldn't be coming back for the rest of detention.

X

Sometime later the sounds of Jonouchi taking a set opposite Atemu roused him from his day dreaming.

"What the fuck do you want?"

Jonouchi regarded him. "Why don't we begin first with my own questions?"

"Fine," Atemu said, locking eyes with Jonouchi.

"Firstly," Jonouchi paused; his eyes darted off to the vacant desk Bakura had once occupied. "Why do you hang out with people like him?"

Atemu shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Kaiba had some warped opinion that you are actually a decent person."

"That would be one thing I can agree about Kaiba. He has strange opinions."

"Now, Bakura," Jonouchi prompted.

"That's none of your business," Atemu retorted.

"Then tell me, why do you hide behind people like him?"

"I am not hiding. I am just not a like any sort of fight in general. What I should be asking instead is why you take things so personally that they end up turning into physical brawls."

"You may not be hiding, but you sure are pretending that something does not exist. Kaiba has this theory that you live in this sort of ideal fantasy world where your father's money and Pegasus' power will make you a happy trooper forever. I just want you to know that this is the real world."

Atemu didn't reply and he pulled his attention away to stare at the spots on his desk.

"You will have to face the facts soon," Jonouchi said, taking the boy's silence as evidence to his speculations. "But right now it seems you are a little bit too insecure to see it for yourself."

"I am not insecure, you do _not_ know me!"

Jonouchi shook his head, looking like he was about to laugh. "Then if your world is so righteous then tell me why do you have to beat of people littler than you to satisfy a fat man who sits on his arse all day?"

Atemu gritted his teeth. If only the boy knew the real truth then he would not be going round accusing him of things he did not understand. If only he knew that Pegasus had been blackmailing him into a seat of power to do as he pleased. If only his father was not an arsehole.

"Why do you have to go out of your way to protect mister baby-face here?" Atemu suggested bitterly, realizing after that that was something Bakura might have said.

"He is my bud," Jonouchi replied bluntly.

Atemu's half-opened mouth closed shut slowly. Jonouchi have him a victorious smile before rising from his seat and returning to the front.

X

Detention had just finished and Atemu was looking through his bag for his Walkman when there was a light rustling sound which echoed through the wood of Atemu's desk. Sleepily, he lifted his head and became aware of a crumpled bit of paper perched on the end on his desk. He frowned for a moment as he tried to work out how it had got there, then reached out to look at over.

As his eyes readjusted to the light, from the darkness of his bag, he became aware of an overhanging shadow, which blocked his view of the board. He pushed his eyes up a bit more and they connected with the same warm purple he had seen earlier.

He sat back against his chair, running a hand loosely through his hair, not taking his eyes of the figure standing before him.

"I thought you might want this back," The soft voice said, indicating to the paper in Atemu's left hand.

Atemu suddenly felt slightly guilty that he had hit Yugi's head with it. At the same time, he was meant to hate the kid, so he did not make that apparent on his face as he continued to stare sheepishly at the boy.

"I wanted to thank you..." he began, and although he didn't smile, it seemed he wasn't as angry as he had feared, "… For holding off your friend. Even though I'm still annoyed at him for attacking Jonouchi like that."

His eyes darted down to look at the paper on the desk, and he added, "My name is Yugi by the way, if you had wanted to ask."

Wait, what? Atemu went slightly red, and he raised an eyebrow at the boy who had just stated a well-known fact. He opened his mouth to retort, but Yugi shook his head. What exactly did this boy want from him?

"I already know who you are, everybody does… And that Kaiba is your cousin. But don't worry, you don't need to say anything. I just wanted you to know that there is no harm done. You know my name now, and all is forgiven."

Yugi shyly looked back up at Atemu and gave him a small smile. "I will let you get back to whatever you are doing now, but I want you to know that Jou and I are not blaming you for Bakura. However it might take Jou a lot longer to get over the events earlier in the hall. I know for one that the paper was not meant to hit anyone in particular and sometimes people do stupid things... If you get sick of the 'popular life', as Jou sometimes puts it, Kaiba would be more than happy to share his friends…" He took a step back and his eyes seemed to dart upwards before back to his eyes. "Nice hair by the way!"

Atemu caught his attention in time before he slipped away. "Wait."

Yugi turned back, eyes as wide as any could possibly be.

His voice caught in his throat as he spoke and as he looked down as his bag. "I want you to know that I feel really bad about the whole Bakura thing; however, I feel even guiltier about this detention I have landed you in. Pegasus he-"

"Hey," Yugi said softly cutting into Atemu explanation. "I did said I forgive you, right?"

Atemu's face lifted, his face studying the boy's face which wore a look of gratitude.

"Let's leave this class today and from there we will never talk of this again."

Atemu found himself nodding in agreement just to see the spark of delight flicker in Yugi's eyes.

Yugi turned away. Having returned his papers to the teacher at the front, he left the classroom to the calls of his waiting friends, who had just poked their heads in to see what had kept him. One thing was for certain after that conversation. Yugi didn't seem to know about a thing called social boundaries.

X


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

* * *

The cafeteria was crowded with the sounds of students anxious to get in line to be first to grab their meals and food before it was all taken. The snow had become heavy over the last couple of hours and so anyone would be considered crazy to go spend the lunch break outside. Jonouchi and Yugi were come of the lucky ones who ran to get their lunch first and so had a good choice in seats. They threw their bags into a large unoccupied table near the window where they could see the snow and laugh with amusement as they watch their friends wait in a long line for lunch.

Honda, Ryou and Marik arrived five minutes later carrying their trays of food and talking causally about their weekends and as soon as they had settled into their seats the conversation turned to the topic of detentions.

Honda with a mouthful of food looked in Jonouchi's and Yugi's direction with an amused grin. "So I hear someone was in detention on Friday."

Jonouchi frowned as he finished up his rice salad. "Thanks to a certain pair of stuck up twats."

Ryou looked at Yugi with interest as he raised his eyebrow. Yugi decided to end his friend's curiosity. "Atemu and Bakura from our year gave us a visit on Friday and we all ended up in detention for it."

Marik's eyes widened in surprise and he looked over at Jonouchi for confirmation. It was no secret that his boyfriend Mariku was close friends with the cool boys and so it was strange to think they would pick on Yugi and Jonouchi of all people.

"And before you all get crazy and go over and punch them I would like to say that I have already dealt with them," Yugi said as he returned to his meal.

"And how did you do this?" Honda asked, his food laying forgotten as his attention was now fully focused on his friend's situation.

Yugi swallowed his mouthful and he quickly recalled the conversation in detention. "I spoke to Atemu and we both agreed to forget everything that had happened."

"Did he apologise?" Ryou asked.

Yugi nodded.

Jonouchi was looking at Yugi with as much scepticism as the rest of his friends, but they did not dare question Yugi any further about the matter and the conversations turned to other less personal topics.

"Hey guys!"

The group looked up from their happenings to find Ryuji Otogi standing by their table. Jonouchi got up from his chair to give the boy a friendly hand-shake.

"I'm glad you didn't get lost!" Jonouchi said. "It has been far too long Otogi."

Yugi felt out-of-place at that moment as Jonouchi bought the boy in for a quick hug and when they pulled back he looked across at Yugi.

"This is my friend from Middle school, Yugi."

Yugi blushed as the black-haired boy looked over him and smiled.

Otogi not taking his eyes off Yugi replied: "Jou, how long have you been hiding this one for!?"

Jonouchi laughed and Yugi covered his face with his hands.

"Guys," Jonouchi said. "This is an old friend of mine from way back, Otogi."

Yugi looked the boy over, he had an obvious height difference as being almost a hand higher than Jonouchi and beaded black-hair, there was an easy-going aura about him which reminded Yugi soo much of his friend.

Honda leant across the table as Otogi and Jonouchi sat down. "Nice to meet you, call me Honda."

Otogi shook Honda's hand and gave him a small nod.

Yugi pointed at Ryou. "And this is Ryou."

"He's English," Honda said. "And if it makes you feel any better he is new as well."

Otogi studied the white-haired teen opposite him. "I could have sworn I saw a near identical copy of you just down the hall."

"You probably saw Bakura," Yugi said.

"He is a prick so you should stay away from him," Jonouchi interjected.

Otogi smirked at his friend. "X-boyfriend?"

Jonouchi choked on his meal and he punched Otogi's arm hard as he sent him a sharp stare.

Otogi's attention fell back on Yugi. "There was also a boy with him that looked a lot like you as well."

"That would be Atemu," Honda said. "He and Bakura put Yugi and Jou in detention last Friday."

As if on cue the group were aroused by the sound of Anzu shouting her lungs out in the line to get food. The chatter in the cafeteria quickly died down as all heads turned in the direction of the red-faced teen shouting at Atemu as he entered the room with Bakura. Yugi quickly gathered that he would not need to tell his friend after all about Friday.

"Atemu you are soo dead!"

Atemu had stopped in his tracks, his body tiled towards the screaming girl. His face looked rather relaxed and blank. Bakura on the other hand was laughing his head off, he had to take a seat just so he wouldn't fall over.

Ryou continued to eat his rice, his attention remaining glued downwards as he spoke. "And that would be our lovely friend Anzu."

X

The last thing Atemu ever expected to happen when he walked into the cafeteria was for Anzu Misaki of all people to yell at him and nearly make him permanently deaf. It did not help either that Bakura chose the most annoying time to lose his cool and fall down in laughter.

Anzu had pulled herself from the lunch line and was storming over to him with a look of an angry hawk who had just had her eggs robbed. "Atemu come here now!"

Atemu swallowed hard. It would appear we might not be having lunch today. He began to walk slowly back, eyes growing wide as he feared for his own safety.

She grabbed him roughly by the arm and pushed him into a nearby chair next to Bakura. Her eyes blazed with fire as he stared him down. He never thought he could be more scared of someone in that moment.

"Did I hear correctly today that you have been terrorising my friend?"

Bakura laughed. "What's got your knickers in a twist Masaki?"

The girls face went slightly redder as she looked at Bakura. She waved a fist in front of his face as he held his hands up getting up from his chair. "Alright I will leave you two love birds to work out your domestic problems."

Atemu's eyes followed his friends form as he walked away to grab some food. He was envious of Bakura for the first time in his life and he would be lucky if he got any food after this.

"So, are you and your lover boy Yugi having some problems?" Atemu asked as he broke into an amused smile just so he could see the reaction he might get from Anzu. She came right up close to him, leaning over as she breathed a thick stench of perfume into his face. Her voice stung like venom as he spoke. "Is it true that you beat up Yugi and Jou?"

Atemu's expression fell. "Before you drawn to conclusions listen to me-"

He was caught off guard by a hard fist which came flying at his left check and he was thrown off to the side, chair and all, on to the cold ground. His right shoulder managed to take much of the impact and so his head stopped short of the floor. He decided that he had been deserving that for a while.

Slowly, he flited his form until he was resting on his knees as looking up at Anzu. She gave him a satisfied look as she flexed her hand. "That is for my friends, arsehole."

She began to walk off, thrusting her hips from side to side as she drifted over to a table of her friends. Atemu recognised the group all too well. He found feel his checks going even redder as he glanced briefly into the eyes of Yugi, he dropped his head not making eye contact with the rest of the silent room and he left the cafeteria.

X

Bakura had cut the lunch line, pretending a little first year was his best friend and as he pulled away from the food with a tray full of rice dishes his eyes scanned the room for a place to sit.

Atemu was nowhere to be seen after going off on a sulk.

Bakura took a seat at the first table he saw, where a group of second years were sitting and chatting about girls. As soon as they saw the person that joined them the abruptly got up from their seats, hurrying away briskly from their unfinished meals.

Bakura did not care that people were scared of him. It made him feel more powerful in a way knowing that people pissed themselves silly just by glancing him in the eye.

He bought his chopstick up to his mouth to have the first bite just as a teen he did not recognise took a seat opposite him. Bakura stuffed the rice into his mouth and dropped his chopsticks to stare the teen down.

"The name's Otogi," the teen said.

Bakura gave Otogi and disinterested glare as he returned to his meal.

"I just can't help wondering if you are somehow related to Ryou."

Bakura stopped to stare blankly at the teen once more.

"Are you?"

"I do not know who the fuck Ryou is, nor do I care why a brat like you would be soo interested in me."

Otogi smirked at the reply Bakura gave him, and he leaned back in his chair. "You are friends with Atemu then. Is he and Yugi related somehow?"

Bakura slammed his chopsticks down. "Do you have nothing better to do?"

"I am just trying to get to know everyone," Otogi said.

"Piss off."

Otogi laughed, and then to Bakura's relief he looked like he was about to leave. He watched him as Otogi went back over to the table he had been sitting at earlier.

Bakura's whole body relaxed.

But it would not be for very long.

Five minutes later he found the same irritating face sitting back opposite him.

"Did you not listen to me?" Bakura asked.

"I have a theory," Otogi said. "I think the only plausible way that two different people could look this similar and not be related is if one of them is a huge fan boy of the other and they just don't know it."

Bakura spat in Otogi's direction and it landed perfectly on the edge of the table.

Otogi looked at it for a second before a smile returned to his face and he slipped his hands together on the table. "So I have this plan."

"Will you shut up?"

Otogi stopped. "So you don't want to have a crazy experience with your other favourite person? I thought all crazed fans thought about that sort of thing."

Bakura threw a plate of rice as the teen's face. He could understand why Atemu has been in a mood today it seems all the crazy people had formed a group and they were intent on making their lunch a living hell. He took no notice of the boy standing up to shake the rice out of his uniform as he left.

X

It was funny how things worked out. In the final period of that day Bakura was aware of his so-called double as he walked into hard materials. Why had he not noticed that he had been I his class all year? The truth was likely that he had hardly been in class to acknowledge anyone, but Bakura would not admit to something like that.

He threw a bag out of the way and sat at a currently unoccupied chair. A student who was working at one of the band saws snapped a harsh insult which did not faze Bakura one bit. The teen left his partner and went over to retrieve his bag and turned to glare at the student now sitting in his chair.

"Do you mind?" He said.

Bakura pursed his lips and let his eyes wonder to the board ahead as he paid little attention to the boy. The teacher quickly caught sight of Bakura sitting around doing very little and he put aside his board marker and walked over to the desk.

"Bakura," the teacher said. "Since you have arrived almost thirty minutes late to class you will be failing this assignment anyway. To make yourself useful however you can help Ryou and Honda with their project."

Bakura folded his arms in a huff. "Fuck off."

The teacher gave him a stern look and reluctantly Bakura sighed unfolding his arms he pulled himself from the chair. He ignored the laughing student as he passed and headed over to where Ryou was discussing something with Honda.

Bakura sat down at their desk and his intrusion caught them off guard. They stopped halfway through a walk through plan of their next action. Ryou's body stiffened and Honda glared at Bakura and he turned his body to face the boy.

"Do you mind?"

Bakura returned him a frown. "If you have a problem with me here talk to the bastard over there." He pointed at the teacher who had is backed turned to them.

Ryou picked up on the point with curiosity. "You are our helping us now?"

"No I will be watching," Bakura explained not looking up from the desk. "It's not like it will change anything after all…"

As it turned out however Ryou and Honda were useless at anything. They could not cut a damn line with a hand saw without bending it. Bakura had decided then that it would be his job to get it done correctly.

He took a deep breath and then shoved the little white-haired brat out-of-the-way.

"Now do us all a favour and stand right there where you won't touch anything."

The boy seemed to hesitate before he took a step back to allow Bakura to finish the cutting job, and once that had been finished, he gave the boy a glare for good measure, before he roughly ordered Honda to pass him a plan for their next step.

Ryou was breathing rather heavily, and that pissed Bakura off even more, it made him lose interest in the class and he dropped into his stall and slammed his book shut. He dug in his pocket looking for his lighter.

"Fuck this," Bakura said.

Honda came over to him holding a plan. "We need to polish the metal down this the electric sander."

Bakura gave him a sarcastic smile. "That is great, you can do that for us."

Honda looked at him confused. Ryou shook his head at Honda and they shared a silent exchange.

"If the teacher comes over, tell him I have gone to take a shit," Bakura said, standing up and taking his backpack over one shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Honda asked.

"Let him leave," Ryou said,

Bakura frowned at the annoying sound of the English boy's attempt at Japanese -all the more reason to leave.

"I'm going to find someplace where I won't be annoyed by your voice and ugly looks every five seconds finish the project and try to not muck it up any more than you already have."

He wandered off out of the workshop and off to find the nearest toilet to have a cigarette.

X

"Anzu, I hope your hand does not stay permanently bruised for long," Miho said as she, Yugi and Anzu sat together in art class playing around with a Mondrian art style. "We don't want the dance to be ruined because you have black knuckles."

Anzu waved Miho's worry away as she focused on her own painting. "I find it exhilarating."

Yugi looked up from his painting to see if he could catch a glimpse of Anzu's injury.

"Does it hurt?" Miho asked.

"Not really," Anzu said. "It feels more relaxed in away knowing it has taught that arrogant cool boy a lesson."

She put her paint brush down. "Yugi."

Yugi raised an eyebrow at her. "Anzu?"

"Has Atemu been bothering you since lunch?"

Yugi blushed, looking slightly embarrassed. "No."

His eyes dropped to his painting.

"This is good."

Miho grabbed Anzu by the shoulder as she and already lost interest in her painting before she had even place a colour on her canvas. "Anzu, have you asked Honda if he will go to the dance with me?"

Anzu shook her head. "I think you should ask him yourself."

"But I do not see him as much as you do."

"Although," Anzu began. "Maybe you won't have to I heard Honda saying to Jou that he was thinking about asking you instead."

Yugi covered his ears to the girls screaming and wished for a moment he had some guy friends in the class with him. It was not what Anzu and Miho were not good people, it was just that he felt slightly left out when Anzu was off with her girlfriends, and males tended to act more civilized and talked more about important things instead of fashion and gossip.

There are squealing were silenced by the main door opening as Atemu came into class twenty minutes late, he did not look like he cared at all. The whole class had turned to glance at the tall boy as he entered the room. Yugi found himself staring for the first time since seeing Atemu during detention.

Atemu was tall and slender with the most amazing red eyes like they were made of hot lava. The large puffer jacket did not do justice to his form, but his finely chiselled face and styled hair still left a lot to be desired for.

He was halfway across the room when Anzu noticed the teen walking nearby and she dropped her excitable exterior and she turned to stare him down.

She muttered 'bastard' under her breath.

Atemu looked over in her direction, but his gaze became caught not on the girl who had punched him earlier, but Yugi himself.

X

Anzu Masaki was the most irritating person that Atemu had had the joy to meet. She might have had her good points, but Atemu and never seen them. He had been the object of fixation for Anzu when he first arrived at the school two years ago; however, things quickly changed when Atemu did not return her affections. She was always too smart for her own good and he was sure that she suspected there was more than just lacking romantic interest.

The Egyptian took his seat next to Vivian Wong, muttering a quick greeting as he dropped his bag and looked over at the little teen Yugi.

Vivian smirked at him with a hint of amusement in her voice. "What are you staring at Yami?"

Atemu quickly snapped his eyes away to look at his desk. "Nothing."

Vivian sniggered, flinger her long hair out of her face. "I heard you got beat up."

"It was only a slap, nothing I couldn't handle."

"By a girl."

Atemu looked over at her. "And your point is?"

"Was she a one night stand," Vivian asked. "Was she annoyed that a man like you isn't one for commitment?"

"I would never date Masaki."

"'Course you wouldn't. So what made her soo pissed off?"

"She is annoyed that I landed her boyfriend in detention."

"That little Yugi kid that Pegasus sent you off on?"

"Yeah," Atemu said.

Vivian laughed as she turned to the group at the table and began to tell the story of Atemu getting punished at lunch by a girl. Atemu sighed as he received looks from the whole crew. Just as his reputation could not get tarnished anymore.

The art teacher slapped a paint brush on his table. Its wet ends sent blue paint spraying out on the table and onto Atemu's bruised face.

She shouted. "Atemu, stand up!"

Within five minutes of entering the room he found himself in the unluckiest situation imaginable.

X

Yugi dropped his head in embarrassment and picked up his brush to continue his painting, trying not to draw attention to himself. He could feel his insides jumping round in his stomach as he tried to not look at the teen next to him.

Anzu had not touched her artwork since Atemu had been placed opposite her. Her nails were getting shorter and shorter as she dug them into the side of the desk, scratching downwards as he watching the cool boy closely.

Atemu ignored Anzu cold stares and he casually turned to tap Yugi lightly on the shoulder. Yugi looked up from his painting and was met by a pair of intense red eyes.

"I missed hearing what we were meant to do. Do you know what we are painting?"

Yugi's insides tightened and he looked at his own work. "We are meant to be looking at a painting of Mondrian. I don't think I like it very much."

A small smile crept up Atemu's face and he looked down at what Yugi was painting. It was as if there was some internal battle flashing behind his eyes, a confusion between wanting to act like a prat and acting like a decent human being. His smile was slightly shaky and Yugi decided to ignore it.

"That is quite good," Atemu pointed out, before he could stop himself. "I had seen real paintings by Mondrian because I went to an exhibition in Paris when I was younger. They are much better in person, so that experience can help change your mind about someone, even a painter."

Yugi blushed finding he was losing concentration as he had been repainting the same red line for the past minute or so.

"What is Egypt like?" Miho asked, interrupting her friend's conversation with Atemu.

Atemu pulled back a bit from Yugi and leaned back in his chair, his gaze finding a spot on the table of which to rest it as he frowned at the mention of his homeland.

"Sand that's all there is to say about it."

Anzu looked at Miho hard, her eyes going back to Atemu. "Why don't you enlighten us about yourself Atemu?"

Atemu titled his head to one side as he studied Anzu's question. "Why are you so curious?"

Anzu shrugged. "I am not. I just wanted to start off on something."

"Then why don't _you _cut the crap then and ask me what you really want to ask?"

Anzu's eyes travelled over to Yugi. "I don't have a question as such, just an observation. Did you know Yugi that Atemu is a upper-class twat?"

Yugi nodded, as he turned to look at Atemu.

Anzu continued. "He a selfish little daddy's boy which can explain why he has not a single backbone in his body. He depends on Pegasus to his orders rather than relying on his own thoughts about anything. He picks on little people to make himself feel more important."

"Anzu," Yugi said as he tried to catch his friend's attention before she said anything more stupid.

Atemu reached forward a placed a soft hand on Yugi's shoulder to stop him. "Don't worry little one. I will be leaving anyway."

Atemu pulled himself up leaving his class work as he did not even flash Anzu a single look as he left.

X

Anzu had not spoken after Atemu left. Her grip around her brush was tight as she tried to push the paint around the paper, but it did not do must justice for her.

"Here let me," Yugi said.

He had come and taken the seat next to her and took his own brush to help his friend finish off the background colouring. Anzu looked sideways at him, watching him work at her picture.

She sighed as she realised she had been hold her muscles for much of the day. "It is hard being angry at someone all the time."

Yugi laughed softly. "Then try being happy, or at least more forgiving."

"But I can't just let go of what Atemu did to you!"

Yugi placed his paintbrush in the jar of murky water and he looked at her. "I really do appreciate you and Jonouchi wanting to protect me, but don't you think it is about time I fought my own battles?"

"He might hurt you again."

"He might, however he might not too," Yugi said. "I should have bought this up earlier, however now is better than never, because Atemu and I have agreed to forget what happened on Friday. He apologised and I am willing to forgive him and give him another chance."

Anzu remained quiet after that. At the end of the class Anzu reached out to grab Atemu's papers that he had left behind and Yugi have her a curious eyebrow raise.

"Atemu left them here I will take them and give them to him in his next period-."

"You do not have to," Yugi said. "I am in his next class so I can hand them over then. I can also bring up the fact you want to make a truce with him."

Anzu seemed hesitant to give up her chance to talk to Atemu again, but she gave as she became aware of how she had acted. She looked slightly embarrassed that her pursuit to protect Yugi she had gone slightly over board in pushing Atemu into shape.

"Was it too much?" She whispered handing over the paper after they had packed away their art supplies into their lockers. "I mean, should I have said nothing to him?"

"No, I think I can sort that out," Yugi said. "Atemu seems like the sort of person that would understand how friends are there for each other."

"Even though I am agreeing to stop abusing him it still won't change the fact I hate his guts," Anzu said.

"I don't ask you to love him, just learn to be more platonic around him."

X


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Bakura was already dressed for gym class by the time Atemu came into the changing room. He looked up from his iPod at his friend as he dropped his bag on the bench beside him.

"Why are you here so early?" Atemu asked.

Bakura shivered. "I saw that freak again; he's in my English class."

Atemu laughed as he unzipped his bag to pull out his gym clothes.

"I walked straight out as soon as I saw his white head, so I have been sitting here for close to an hour."

"You could have text me," Atemu pointed out, "I was in art, so I wound have been able to avoid another Masaki shouting session."

"We are having bad luck today," Bakura said.

Atemu hummed in agreement.

Bakura frowned at his iPod as he spoke once more. "I seem to have misplaced my phone, it is probably still at Mariku's house from last night."

Atemu smirked as it was highly likely that his friend was right. He seemed to lose things all the time, and he would not have been surprised if Marik had a whole room full of Bakura's lost items.

Atemu loosened the belt around his waist and slipped his school shorts quickly off, clad in only briefs and a tight shirt he was interrupted all of a sudden by a light voice from a meter away. He looked up, unbothered by his vulnerable state of dress as he caught sight of Yugi standing before him holding a collection of paper's out to him.

He turned away, ignoring the boy for several moments as he began to slip off his shirt. Once he had a pair of shorts on; he ended the boy's wait with a casual nod and smile.

"What have you got there?" He asked eyeing the paper.

"You left your papers at art class, and I thought you should have them so you don't get yelled at some more because you misplaced them."

Atemu sewed his brow together, unsure what else to say to the little teen. "Thank you?"

"I just want to apologise… I realise I have been doing that a lot lately for people," Yugi began, "Anzu is a really good friend of mine and she is a good person. I just feel that because she has known be for so long I am like a little brother to her and she naturally feels inclined to protect me. But that does not mean that I support the way she has been treating you. I have spoken to her and she has agreed to drop her issues with you and will be more civil with any problems she has in the future."

Atemu was surprised that Yugi had so much love for his friends as much as he showed right there. He had shown Atemu his strength again and again through detention, when he stood up for Jonouchi, and again how with Anzu. Atemu wished he could find the strength within himself that measured up to Yugi's, but Atemu was at a loss with how he could. He admired Yugi for that.

"Also, did I say we were sorry?" Yugi asked. "And I hope the knock didn't hurt too much."

Atemu put a hand to his chin, stroking an invisible beard as he pressed his lips together and looked off into the distance. As soon as he saw the puppy dog eyes on Yugi's face he dropped his hands in surrender and nodded. As a gift for Yugi's courage he would give him that one request.

"As long as I don't have to go on some kind of date with her to show that I accept your apology then we can call it even."

Yugi's face grew brighter, his mouth wide with excitement and gratefulness.

"Thank you, Atemu!"

Atemu's face suddenly turned serious. "Yugi about Friday... I am sorry."

Yugi shrugged. "I understand the pressures Pegasus puts your kind under. I forgive you all the same. Now why don't we start again, not as enemies, but as friends?"

"I would like that," Atemu said before he would stop himself and he dropped his eyes.

Yugi's checks became a tinted pink as he noticed that the boy before him was shirtless he began to walk backwards, eyes wide as they stuck on to Atemu's form, he half-fell over a bench before he realized he was staring. Glowing even redder Yugi laughed nervously and gave the two of them a small wave, before running into a changing cubical.

Bakura came up behind Atemu and whispered into his ear. "What's this about Anzu?"

"Yugi has managed to stop her hot pursuit of me."

"And?"

"I believe I have just made a deal to forget it all happened."

"But you do know she's a female, right?"

"Yes Bakura I am well aware of that," Atemu assured him as he slipped on his gym shirt and stuffed his clothes into his bag. "What does that matter?"

Bakura's eyes glanced off at the cubical Yugi occupying and he lowered his voice. "When you make up with someone that easily it usually means sex is on the table. Plus, she has boobs; I thought you didn't go for that."

Atemu hissed back in a lowered voice at his friend. "Just because I do not actively have romantic relationships with women doesn't mean I can't be friends with them."

The two friends continued having a verbal spar between each other as they left the changing room and went to the gym to warm up.

X

Tetsu had been looking for a small boy all day and normally he would not have been hard to pick out from a group; he was normally the one who had the brightest hair which stuck out as obvious as a traffic light. He woke from his slumber at the entrance to the gym as the last bell for the day echoed over his head. A class wondered out a few minutes later, and Tetsu pulled up from the wall, flexing his arm muscles, he needed his money.

He smiled as he spotted the boy, walking with a group of his friends causally across the yard. He was not going to be nice this time; there would be no foreplay. He needed his clients to know that his services did not come cheap, and they could not squeeze so easily out of the loan.

He picked the easiest target of the three of them, Yugi Mouto. Tetsu suddenly ran up behind him grabbing him by the bag and pulling him off balance before he had any time to react. He was on the ground in an instant; face crushed into the concrete, and his back held down by Tetsu's large foot.

"Got my money?" Tetsu asked.

A tall boy with messy sandy hair was suddenly running at Tetsu to throw a punch at his face. Tetsu blocked the fist with ease, adding to it with a countered punch to the boy's face. He landed on the ground unconscious next to Yugi.

"Jou!" Yugi cried breathlessly in a raspy voice.

"We don't want any trouble Tetsu…" Honda said. He was looking back at Tetsu a look of terror on his face but at the same time a hardness that showed there would be some fight to protect his friends.

Tetsu did not like when his victims told him what he could and could not do. He took his foot off from the collapsed Yugi, and he made an attempt at Honda. The boy blocked a punch and managed to run a few meters away before the bully lost interest and returned to Yugi.

Yugi took his opportunity to crawl over to Jonouchi, checking his friend was still breathing. He pulled himself to his feet and stood between his friend and the bully. He did not want anyone else getting hurt.

"Leave us alone, _please."_

He spoke from the heart without the fancy words most people in a fight had the ability to use. He wished sometimes that he could take the speeches his heroes from stories made and sell them as well as they did.

Honda returned rather quickly with Kaiba on tow, and seeing his partner sprawled out motionless in the snowing pavement made him more determined to help.

"What do we have here," Kaiba said coolly. "A child without his caregiver."

"I have been hearing stories about you, _fags_."

Kaiba glared at Tetsu at the insult meant for him and Jonouchi.

Kaiba shouted. "Yugi, take Jou and get out of here. I will handle the pathetic bully from here!"

Yugi ignored his friend's pleads as he turned to confront Tetsu.

"Leave them alone," Yugi said, standing completely exposed at an arm's length away. His voice was not a plea as it was more a warning that if Tetsu laid a hand or said anymore he would not stand by any longer and let it continue. "If you want someone to pick on here I am, bring it on!"

"Yugi don't be stupid," Kaiba said.

Tetsu sneered reaching down in an attempt at grabbing Yugi by the collar. But the boy suddenly ducked and slid between the man's legs landing on his knees as he completed the manoeuvre. His trousers wet from the cold snow seeping into them. He quickly jumped to his feet and spun round to Tetsu. The bully did not look amused in the slightest, and he was quicker in his movements this to grab Yugi. He caught him just as he made a sideways step to avoid a dummy-punch, pulling him up off his feet and bringing him close to his own face so he could stare him down.

"Fight me fag, show me how strong you are. Then, when I win you have to pay me triple for what you already owed me."

Yugi choked as he spat back. "What are you talking about?'

A figure suddenly came into the show at that moment. Flashing like a cape-wearing hero by the speed he ran, he quickly launched forward without warning and had Tetsu on the ground moaning in pain within a few seconds. His moves were swift and intelligent avoiding Tetsu's blows with ease as he passed bellow the man's guard and dealt him a single punch between his legs.

Yugi used the moment of weakness to pull himself from Tetsu's grip and took a step back to get out of the boy's area of reach, he observed the scene with both admiration and shock.

His hero was not a cape wearer at all. He looked rather ordinary.

Atemu knelt down beside Tetsu and warned him in a harsh tone. "If you touch my friends ever again I will personally make sure that the next punch permanently ruins your chances of any children. But that would not be such a bad thing anyway."

_He had called them friends._

Yugi looked amazed at Atemu's quick take-down of Tetsu, but he did not say a lot when the boy asked him if he was ok. Yugi just nodded and returned to his place alongside Jonouchi. Atemu looked sceptical as he eyed the boy's bruised checks and dishevelled clothes; he wanted to question him further, but Jonouchi was the main concern right now.

"Where did he get hit?" Atemu asked as he knelt down beside Yugi and the fallen boy.

"I didn't get much of a chance to look," Yugi admitted sounding worried.

Kaiba was soon at Jonouchi's side as well, and he carefully inspected his boyfriend over, checking his neck for a pulse, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Honda and Bakura were standing overhead watching.

"I saw his shoulder hit the ground first, followed quickly by his lower body then head," Honda explained.

Kaiba finished looking Jonouchi over before he slipped an arm under his lower back and shoulders, he lifted him up slowly, using his legs to brace himself against the boy's weight and lift him up. Atemu gave his cousin a hand in picking Jonouchi up. Kaiba paced his boyfriend's head on his chest and held his upper body whilst Atemu took hold of the legs and lower abdomen.

"We will need to get him to the sickbay, we have to make sure he didn't hit his head too hard," Kaiba instructed.

Bakura make no indication to move from the fallen bully. "I will make sure the bastard does not get up."

The group migrated slowly through the school halls, until they came to the office. The sickbay was a small isolated part of the building that was quiet and hardly disturbed by any unwanted sounds from children outside.

X

The nurse had not been overly surprised to see a boy in such a state being carried into her office at the conclusion of the day. She intrusted the boys to place Jonouchi in one of the beds by a window as she hurried off to fetch her medical equipment.

Yugi and Atemu sat next to each other on the edge of the bed left of the one Jonouchi occupied. Whilst Kaiba stood by his bed, eyes averted down his boyfriend's sleeping face.

Atemu found his attention focused on Yugi's bruised and batted face and he could not remember if these had all come from the fight earlier or Friday. One of the boy's bag straps had been ripped and he had sodden clothes from the trip through the snowy ground, but he looked find despite all of his. He had his eyes focused ahead on his friend with a look of concern, having not uttered much since arriving. One of his hands gripped the covers of the bed he sat on whilst the other held the head of his bag. The fact that his feel dangled a foot from the ground made Atemu share a small smirk with himself.

When the nurse returned Kaiba was forced to over back from Jonouchi and he began to wonder over to the other side of the room. He looked more worried than he had ever seen him. He decided he would leave Yugi for the moment and get got up to walk over to Kaiba.

"Hello cousin," Atemu said.

It was the first time in two years that they had uttered a single word to each other.

Kaiba looked at him. "Nice work you did there. I do wonder where your courage came from."

Atemu ignored his cousin's remark. "I have taken up the Japanese tradition of Karate."

Kaiba gave him a smirk. "That might explain why you are less of an arse than you were when we were living in Egypt. Then again, it could also be because you do not have your daddy watching your every move."

Atemu rolled his eyes at his cousin. "It has helped me think about a lot."

"Except you are still missing one thing," Kaiba said. "You are still falling for the same mistakes with Pegasus as you also did in Egypt with your father."

He decided he would not give his cousin the satisfaction of a reply and he looked over his shoulder to check on Yugi and Jonouchi.

"Jou was adamant you hated his guts."

That caught Atemu's attention as he strayed away from Jonouchi to look up at Kaiba.

"What made him think that?"

Kaiba gave him blank look as if to say 'are you really that thick.'

"I think after today though he will probably be after you for an explanation."

Atemu's raised an eyebrow at him. "Why could that be?"

"You're not meant to save the underdogs," Kaiba said. "You are the pinnacle of this whole school; it is the rules is it not?"

Atemu tightened his lips; narrowing his eyes self-consciously pulled away from Kaiba just as Honda entered the room with an entourage of friends. Ryou and Marik entered followed closely by Anzu.

Seeing the huge group of friends under the one room all of sudden made Atemu feel slightly out of place. He had done his duty and now he should leave before someone made the suggestion that it was his fault, yet again, for one of their own to get hurt.

He was about to leave them his eye caught on to Yugi's small form once more and he had to check on him before he hurried along.

"Have you been listen to what the nurse says?" Atemu asked; Yugi jumped at the sound of a deep voice behind him. He looked behind and saw Atemu leaning against one of the bedheads, his face revealing a look of concern as well as casual coolness.

Yugi stumbled in his attempt to compose a comprehendible sentence. "I-I-I think he will live, he tends to get knocked out really easily."

Yugi put a hand up to rub the back of his neck, and he gave a small light hearted laugh, a sound that caused Atemu to smile.

"I am glad to hear that he is all right," Atemu admitted, "And that Tetsu was not able to hurt anyone any more than he already did… Are you all right?"

The bruised checks of the boy went a light shade of pink under his eyes as Atemu reverted the conservation back to him.

"I am all right, just slightly grazed," Yugi assured him. "But speaking of which, where did you learn to do that?"

"Do what?" Atemu asked knitting his eyebrows together.

"That karate move or whatever it was."

He relaxed his face as it became clear. "I grew up with it and I have also since living in Japan have been going to Karate classes to amerce myself in the culture."

"Well," Yugi said. "It looks like I owe you another thank you."

Atemu shook his head, holding his arms out to stop his friend's attempts to thank him. He could not help, but smile at how kind and genuine this boy before him was, sometimes it felt like an angel had been given to him. The words caught in his mouth as he lowered his arms and looked deep into Yugi's sleepy eyes. He could sense a light tug daring to pull him closer towards the other's personal space which he chose to ignore.

"No, this is just me doing something any friend would do for another friend."

"Okay…"

Yugi was looking at him strangely, as if Atemu had something alien. He decided to not question the boy about it for the state of his checks were already as red as they could be, and Bakura would probably punch him if he kept him any longer.

Atemu held out a hand to Yugi. "I think this might do for now."

Yugi's wide eyes pared down at the popular boy's hand as if it was going to infect him with poison from an invisible snake wrapped around his arm.

Atemu smirked, laughing lightly. "I assure you I do not have a snake up my arm."

Yugi took hold of the boy's hand in his own, his strong grip a perfect fit around his soft small hands. They held them in an embrace for a short time before Atemu slipped the hand into his pocket. He shared a smile with Yugi, before he pointed lazy behind him.

"Bakura is waiting outside for me, he will want a hand dealing with unconscious bully" He said, sounding annoyed by that fact. "I will see you round?"

Yugi nodded and it was the last thing Atemu remembered as he walk out.

X


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Three weeks had passed since Jonouchi had returned from a couple of days in hospital and he was cheerier than ever. He had sat down at lunch on the Monday of the third week with a grin on his face that he was just waiting for the moment where we could tell everyone the reason for his upbeat attitude.

"Jou," Honda said. "What's with the weird smile, you are starting to scare me."

Marik interjected. "And me. It is just really unnatural."

Jonouchi's gave them a frown. "Hey guys, why can't a guy just be happy for no reason?"

Yugi replied between a mouthfuls of food. "Because you are not one of those people."

Malik poked Jonouchi playfully in the side. "Come on idiot, tell us."

Jonouchi clapped hands together. "I feel as if this will end up being the first month that none of me or my friends have been picked on. Plus, Kaiba is planning on taking me to a film after school except when we go to a film we don't actually go to see the film we-"

"Hold your horses there Jou!" Anzu spoke abruptly her eyes were wide with alarm as unwanted images of her friends began to circulate through her head.

"Well you guys did ask why I was super happy…"

The whole table was drawn to a tray of food being placed in a vacant spot next to them and as they looked they found Ryou taking his seat. By the way his face was screwed Yugi figured he was in the very opposite mood Jonouchi was in.

Yugi nudged his friend lightly next to him and Ryou looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Ryou's eyes narrowed. "Otogi has been trying to get me to talk to the bastard Bakura. He thinks the guy is my number one fan by the fact he look similar. I hardly see the resemblance however!"

Yugi chuckled despite his friend's sour appearance. "Otogi means well, I think."

"Please tell me you do not think I am in anyway similar to Bakura."

Yugi tried to not reveal his true thoughts to Ryou on this matter by hiding his eyes Ryou could read people reactions sometimes and tell straight away what they were thinking.

"You have the same hair," Yugi said leaning back in his chair as he indicated with a finger. "But I agree that that is really all I can see as being similar."

Ryou huffed as he turned his attention to his meal.

Jonouchi leaned over the table as he caught sight of Ryou's saddened exterior. "Everything all right Ryou?"

Through a mouth full of rice Ryou lied. "Everything is just peachy."

X

"I believe that what you are going is illegal is most countries, even our own."

Atemu looked over his shoulder at the sound of his friend's voice from the side of the soda machine. He jumped away from the machine and straightened up; he glared at Bakura.

"I'm not stalking," Atemu said, his eyes darting over his friend and back down the hallway.

"For one, I did not say you were, which means you clearly were, and another is that anyone could see that you were eyeing that little Yugi boy as Pegasus puts it."

"Pegasus is a dick and that is why I have decided to stop talking to him," Atemu muttered losing interest in his friend as his eyes searched for their target once more.

"Would the other reason you are not talking to Pegasus is because you are _interfering _with the contract?"

Yugi unlocked his locker, pulling his school bag from his back; he began to slip books into it. His little face looked flushed, but also content as he attended his job. Once he was done he slipped back bag back over one shoulder and pushed his locker shut, giving the nob and quick turn to lock it he began to walk away.

"You should probably not make it too obvious you don't want anyone else to think we are suddenly keen on hanging out with that lot. It will also give them more reason to spread more rumours."

Atemu pulled back from behind the soda machine, leaning against it he glared at Bakura.

"What rumours?'

Bakura chuckled, "The ones about you getting hard for the little boy."

"I am not hard for…" Atemu trailed off stunned to hear Bakura had just used those words in the same sentence. "…little boys!"

Atemu turned around, any reason to get away from his friends taunting chuckles. He wondered over to Yugi as he was just zipping-up his bag. He could see Bakura watching them from behind the soda machine.

"Hey," Atemu greeted, rousing Yugi from his phone.

Yugi's eyes widened at the sight of the tall popular boy next to him. "Hello, it's been a while."

"So, how was your weekend?" Atemu asked, pushing passed the fact he had no spoken to Yugi since the indecent and also finding personal satisfaction in Yugi's reddened face.

"It was pretty crappy," Yugi admitted sounding like he had not slept much last night.

"And is Jonouchi all right?"

Yugi gave him a small thankful smile. "He has been coming back to school now for about two weeks now, maybe you should ask him yourself if you see him around."

"Would he _want_ to see me?"

"He has been saying how grateful he is for you saving us from Tetsu," Yugi said. "He just wishes that you had not run away before he could thank you."

Atemu laughed, scratching the back of his neck self-consciously. He found it strange that whenever he was around Yugi, he could not keep calm. He found his heart raced that slightly bit faster, his hands could not hold firmly onto something without them slipping from them from the sweat produced and his face was always a lot warmer. But the most annoying thing was the fact that he could never say anything to the boy without feeling like a complete fool, his words came out tangled and never as impressive as they sounded in his head.

"Got to go somewhere?" Atemu asked, noticing how Yugi was shaking eagerly from one foot to the other.

"Yeah."

"Okay, so I guess I'll see you later?"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah…"

"Atemu," Yugi looked up at Atemu with a look of worry, his eyes wide and his mouth a neutral state. "Are we… friends?"

Atemu nodded, he had prepared for this question. "Of course!"

"Kind of weird, not very common-type ones…"

"Yugi," Atemu said, trying to stop the ramble teen before he said something stupid.

"Good," Yugi breathed, as his shoulders fell back into a natural stance.

"You have to go now?"

"Oh, yes!" Yugi said. "Just remember you won't wait another three weeks before we talk again!"

Atemu laughed. "I promise.

X

Two days later, Yugi emerged from one of the stalls in the male's bathroom and he came face-to-face with Atemu's reflection. The teen was cleaning his face and playing with his hair as he looked at himself in the mirror. Yugi was glad for the empty bathroom at the time for the glance the popular boy gave him made his insides become squid-like, and his face bright red. Yugi awkwardly approached one of the sinks to wash his hands, feeling the soft gaze upon him.

"Hey," Yugi greeted, allowing himself to breath as the tension subsided for the moment.

Rubbing his hands through the warm water, he gave Atemu a side wards look to see him looking flabbergasted. It was likely the popular boy was not expecting any sort of conversation at all.

"How are you?" Yugi pushed again finding his smooth breaking into a huge smile despite the awkward position he had found himself.

Atemu composed his face within an instant and set upon his mouth a small amused smile. "I am all right."

His eyes connected with Yugi's gaze. "How was English on Monday?"

"It was alright," Yugi gave him a small thankful smile. "Jonouchi also bought up the fact you had a brief conversation with him yesterday to say check up on him."

"What did he say?"

"From what he said it would seem you have earned yourself a fan."

"That is nice to know.

Yugi titled his head off to the side in thought as he leaned into the sink and the warm feeling of the water running through his fingers. "Jonouchi has been bugging me for the past couple of days more than ever to enter this Duel Monster tournament. The reason I am telling you this is because I want your opinion on it."

"What do you want me to say?"

Yugi shrugged. "I am not sure. Do you still want me to stop playing cards so Pegasus will leave us both alone?"

"I do not know Yugi," Atemu said. "Three weeks ago I would have begged you to stop playing for I know how desperate Pegasus is to see himself crowned for another year in the national titles. Now I am not so sure."

"But if I decide to enter the tournament will Pegasus ask you to stop me again, will you obey him?"

Atemu sighed as he felt his insides tensing up. "The truth is I am as lost as you right now."

Yugi let a deep breath he had been holding escape through his mouth. "Well, at least that shows you have come some way since we met."

Atemu allowed himself to exhale in a sigh of relief from the deep breath he had been holding. All he needed to do was relax and make this conversation so much easier. As he pulled back from his reflection in the mirror he became aware that Yugi was standing awkwardly in front of the sink now, looking at him expectantly. Opening his mouth to question Yugi further he was suddenly almost pushed off his own feet by a sudden hang from behind him. With his heart racing he spun around to confront who had made the entire ruckus. There was a student who had entered the room, and both Atemu and Yugi shared an equal feeling of being in the way of the student.

"What do you have now?" Yugi asked.

"Maths on the second floor. What about you?"

"No idea," Yugi replied. "Perhaps I could walk you to your classroom?"

Atemu shrugged as if he was unsure whether to accept his offer or reject it. Atemu nodded at him after a delayed moment and he place a hand on Yugi's shoulder to push him lightly forward.

"I will follow, just give me a moment," Atemu said.

He glanced back into the mirror to correct his appearance, pausing, he raised an eyebrow at himself. "Are you really going to do this?"

Apparently he was because the next minute he found himself running to catch up with Yugi. He held his head down as the passed a group of Pegasus' friends, he did not need anyone knowing he was hanging out with his contract at this stage. The accusing text and taunts he had received on a daily bases was hard enough to avoid.

"Do you like maths?" Atemu asked, glancing sideways around to check no one important noticed him walking with Yugi.

"It's all right; I find it quite hard though."

"It is not too hard," Atemu pointed out. "It's like a language. If you use it enough it becomes second nature."

Yugi thought for a moment before he looked back at Atemu. "Are you good as good at English as you are Maths?"

"I grew up in Egypt with Arabic as my first language, my father had English, Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese shoved down my throat."

"Why so many languages?"

Atemu shrugged. "English and Chinese is pretty much the most common spoken tongue in the world. Secondly my mother is Japanese, and she has a sweetness for French and Spanish."

Yugi nodded as he figured for someone like Atemu that had to make sense.

"Atemu".

Atemu's attention snapped suddenly to the sound of his own name coming from the lips of the boy beside him. He had stopped and was standing by the water tank looking at him cautiously. He raised an eyebrow in his direction.

He then realised Yugi was posed at the door to a classroom, holding the door handle as he looked back to stare at the cool boy, waiting. His eyes widened as he realised he had almost walked right passed his own class and he gave Yugi a sheepish smile as he thank him for his observational skills.

He paused at the entrance to his class and gave Yugi a small smile. "See you."

Yugi nodded and waved him inside.

X

Yugi was sitting by himself at lunch and just the prospect seemed like a miracle.

Atemu sloshed the last of his meal into his plates before tiling his head back to check Bakura was close behind him. His eyes quickly travelled back to the alone boy leaning against one of his hands as he used the other to shovel the food into his mouth.

He had been looking for the moment when he would find Yugi by himself at lunch. It was not that he disliked Yugi's friends it was that he still felt like an outsider to their group and he could not see himself being accepted in a hurry. He knew that they had a new found respect for him, but he still felt like an intruder. Also, being by himself maybe it easier to talk to Yugi without any distractions.

Atemu pulled Bakura as quickly from the line as he could and he headed over to Yugi's table.

"Hey Yugi," Atemu said as he place his tray close to Yugi's own.

The boy looked up from his food in surprise.

"Where is everybody?" Atemu asked.

Yugi began to recite where all his friends were currently. "Ryou has an overdue assignment with Malik due at three today so they are in the library, Anzu has dance lessons on Thursday lunch, and Honda and Jou are at rugby practice."

"Why aren't you cheering them on, or studying with Ryou and Malik?" Atemu asked.

"I was hungry," Yugi sheepishly.

Bakura had taken a seat left of Yugi and seeing the white-haired wolf boy sitting so close did not have much of an effect on Yugi for his face looked like it was about to land flat on the table in any moment.

Not saying an awful lot Yugi left his chopsticks in his bowl and stretched his legs out under the table. He sent Atemu a light kick to draw the cool boy's attention towards him. He opened his mouth to say something up it quickly turned into a large yawn.

"Did not get enough sleep last night?" Atemu asked.

Yugi's half hooded eyes complimented his sleepy nod as he quickly picked u his chopsticks and finished his meal. Once empty he pushed it out of the way and he looked at the pair.

"I think I am going to sleep now."

Atemu laughed and glanced over at Bakura to check that he was still about. It seemed the whole day had taken effect on Bakura as well as Yugi for his albino friend had his eyes shut. He looked back at Yugi to find the teen had dropped his head into his arms on the table top and already soft snores were apparent.

Bakura opened his eyes moments later looking at the sleeping boy he smirked. "It looks like you have found yourself a keeper. If he is comfortable enough to fall asleep in your company then there is no questioning what else he might do."

He began to laugh as he rubbed the spot Atemu had dealt a punch to for his comment.

X

"Wakey-wakey sleepy head," Atemu sung.

Yugi moaned as he lifted his head up to whip the sleep from his eyes. He yawned once more. "What time is it?"

"Ten minutes to one," Bakura said.

Yugi stumbled to his feet as he pulled his phone out to check his phone. He glanced back at Atemu and Bakura giving them a sheepish smile. "I will just go get a drink."

Once the boy was out of ear shot Bakura began to tease Atemu about the little boy he had been look after. "You can't tell me that those looks you have been giving Yugi all lunch were not oh-I-so-want-to-fuck-you."

Atemu rolled his eyes at his friend's comment and he retorted by bring up Ryou. "But you have been looking at Ryou the same way. Like when we were in gym the other day and Ryou out ran you in the beep-test your expression was just golden!"

"Well, well, if it isn't Yami and his little wolf."

Atemu's expression feel as recognised the slimy voice of Vivian Wong metres behind him.

"That isn't a nice way to say hello to your friend," Atemu pointed out calmly as he turned around to stand up and see her.

She laughed as if he had just told the funniest joke, pretending to hold a hand to her chest as if the laughing was suffocating her. After a few painful moments of her performance she snapped out of acting like a fool and stood back up straight, removing all signs of amusement on her face. She picked her nose up as if smelling the air for fear, keeping her eyes tightly on Bakura and Atemu's faces.

"I am not your friend," She said. "I am your queen."

Bakura chuckled leaning forward as he straddled the chair. "Queen of my arse."

Vivian's eyes narrowed and her voice took on a more sinister edge as it retorted. "Some weeks ago you were quite content to agree with me."

"No one is the queen," Atemu said, rolling his eyes. "Yes there is a hierarchy in the school, one that you and I are a part of. But at no point did I agree to come into it agreeing with some fucked up contract which said you were our queen!"

"Yeah well… that doesn't matter anyway," Vivian said speaking softer and looking less aggressive than moments ago, she almost looked like she was about to cry. "I just came here to warn you that people are talking about you... Tetsu is pissed, Pegasus wants to know what's going on with the contract... All I beg is that you stop hanging out with those losers and come back to us. I have been watching you for some time."

Atemu shook his head, raising his hands up before him he looked at his friend with pity. "Why have you been sending me all these text lately? There is nothing too much out of the ordinary which is happening. I, just like student like Anzu Masaki, like to hang out with multiple kinds of students."

"Anzu Masaki is this close to being dropped," Vivian held up a hand as a demonstration. "She will be dealt with at another date. What we are concern with right now is that you don't know the rules. We accept you into our ranks as long as you stick to the rules. One of the key ones you are failing to grasp is that we cannot be seen mingling with the… peasants. Think of our reputation, the common folk will start to question it, and then? We might be overthrown!"

"And would that really be such a bad thing?" Atemu challenged.

Vivian's eyes narrowed. "You are supposed to be one of us. You are supposed to protect your fellow comrades and if I recall correctly last week according to Tetsu you were part of a band of pirates who beat him up… is this true?"

"Yes, but Tetsu had been picking on-"

"Yugi?" Vivian offered, laughing as a bemused smile popped up on her face. "The little boy you have been having a… _thing_ with? The boy you and Bakura bet up three weeks ago? And the one you are failing to convince to stop his game of cards?"

"I am not having anything with that looser," Atemu retorted before he could stop himself, he could sense that Bakura beside him was eyeing him weirdly. There was no going back now.

Vivian's laughing came to a slow halt. "What do you mean?"

"He is no one, a little joke me and Bakura conjured up in detention. I pretend to be his friend, and then I ditch him at the right time when we have some juice about Anzu, you know he is madly in love with the bitch! And that thing with Tetsu, that was another ploy to get him to trust me, I did not have time to get the big boy in on the plan before I punch through, makes it more entertaining, made it seem more believable… If I am honest the little boy should go back to middle school he is just an annoying brat. Plus, his friends obviously have better things to do than hang out with him because he found him all alone at lunch today. I just took fault pity on him, make him come in closer."

He stopped in time to feel a cold sensation of ice and liquid being thrown down his back and when he turned he could hear Vivian's cackles and the sound of a plastic cup dropping and he could see the back of a small boy running away. He did not need to see the face to know who had just walked in on his confession to Vivian.

"I think your little boy toy just overheard you Atemu!" Vivian giggled, but her taunts did not seem to pierce his armour for his mind was focused on the retreating boy far off in the distance.

Atemu's heart sank for he did not care his back was drenched in coke. He had lost a friend just as he was coming to realise he meant more to him than he first thought. They had just been getting somewhere.

And he had now lost it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

He did not know what he was doing; only that he was running. He had been such a fool to trust someone like Atemu! And, he had lost his school bag in the process of him hurrying away, he did not care though. The edges of his eyes began to sting with a familiar wet sensation as he pushed passed students and through tight halls. He ignored calls from familiar voices as he pushed forward and through open the doors to the outside court. Clenching his eyes and fists tight, he ran. He wasn't much of a runner, and it did hurt an awful lot, although on the other hand it was better than hearing his voice repeating the truth through the third floor corridor…

'_He had tricked me, and he had been one of them all along._'

After what seem like an eternity of sort breaths and sore sides Yugi pushed opened the door to the library and was relieved when he saw Ryou and Marik walking towards him carrying their books.

Ryou could see from the look on Yugi's face that it would be a stupid question to ask if he was all right. He passed his books over to Marik's awaiting arms and he went over to pull his friend in for a hug.

Ryou asked softly. "What has he done to you Yugi?"

Yugi crumbled under his friend's embrace and he pushed his head against Ryou's chest as he cried. "Atemu is a liar."

Ryou beckoned Marik to follow him and together they lead Yugi back through the doors of the library and out into the corridor. His eyes glanced wildly around for any signs of the cool boy or his dog. The space has been cleared quickly and he looked back to Marik as they paused in the middle of the corridor.

"Marik, why don't you scout ahead?"

Marik nodded as he took an extra moment longer to look at Yugi with a look of concern. "Is he all right Ryou?"

"He will live," Ryou said and nudged him along with a nod.

They were lucky enough to not run into any teacher or hall monitors on the way out. Marik met Ryou and Yugi at the main exit to the school and they both agreed they would risk detention to make sure their friend was all right.

"We should not stay out here," Marik said. "The grounds keepers will likely find us before too long. Why don't we swing by Mariku's house? It is only one bus route away."

Ryou nodded. "I have some coins in my bag if you would like to fetch them for me Marik."

The boy did as Ryou commanded and gathered up the coins worth one bus trip. They travelled along the foot path until they came to a bus shelter and the huddled under it just in time for a light trickle on rain to start pouring down.

They waited.

Yugi's cries had subsided for the time being as he held on Ryou, using his friend as support for his limp form. He yawned and murmured. "Ryou has anyone every lied to you?"

Ryou glanced down at Yugi. "Yes and it does not get any easier."

Marik watched the exchange with interest, but he decided to say nothing as he looked out to watch for any buses.

"Who?" Yugi asked.

"My father," Ryou said.

And it all made sense for Yugi and he quickly regretted asking such a pathetic question. "Ryou, I am sorry when I am sad or tired I usually ask silly questions."

"Then, when we get to Mariku's house you can sleep for as long as you like," Ryou said. "And then you and I together than talk about what a complete arse Atemu and Bakura are. Does that sound good?"

Yugi laughed lightly. "I think sleep sounds the best thing ever at this point."

X

Atemu had slept passed his alarm and when he awoke feeling no better than he had the following day he was glad it was midday. He had collapsed back down into his covers, giving into the aching of his heart and body. He had tried to drift off back to sleep with his alarm switched off, but it was a long time of gazing at the white ceiling of his room before finally switched off.

A text message woke him early the next morning arousing him from his sleep, he flipped over to his side and leaned over to grab the phone and read what it said. Bakura had sent him a strongly worded text message which he did not want to read so early in the morning again.

The date on his phone told him that he had been avoiding his friend for two whole days.

He unlocked his door, still dressed in his boxers and emerged from his room. His stomach growled as he entered the lounge, but he chose to ignore it for the moment. He could sense his friend in the corner of the room, lying against the couch watching some early morning cartoon.

"Finally!" Bakura exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "I thought for a moment that I would have to tell your father to hurry on over here just to get you up!"

Atemu chose to ignore his friend and he turned his attention elsewhere. Walking into the kitchen he pulled out a piece of bread from the bread bin and stuck it in the toaster. He faced away from Bakura, leaning against the island with his arms folded and watching the toaster intensely. He heard Bakura coming to sit along the other side of the island, observing him.

"Seriously Atemu," Bakura said. "Sometime times you worry me."

He knew when Bakura started acting concerned something had definitely been mucked up. Atemu felt he did not have the patience to deal with his friend's worried stares and meaningful conversations at that present time. He grabbed the toast as it popped into the air and he stuffed it into his mouth.

"You have really got yourself into some real shit this time haven't you dear Yami."

Atemu spun around, his face and neck going red as his eyes latched onto Bakura. He quickly swallowed down his toast and through a croaky voice he shouted "Fuck off Bakura!"

Bakura laughed. "Shouting at me isn't going to fix anything. Vivian doesn't believe a word of what you told her, for you information, so I can assure you the popular pricks are going to be all over us today. Pegasus will just find someone else to finish off Yugi."

The second load of toast popped at that moment, and Atemu violently pulled out the burnt bit of bread and stuffed it into his mouth. He looked like a hungry lion that had just spent hours watching his mate taunting him with its caught prey who was now able to eat. Once the bread was all gone, he washed it down with a glass of water.

"I will be glad of it," Atemu answered, slamming the glass down on the bench empty, and he whipped the corner of his lips with the side of his arm. "I don't want any of this shit anymore!"

He stormed back to his room, and returning a moment later wearing blue leather pants and a loose black tank top under a denim jacket. He wouldn't be going to school today; he only had more purpose, one set mission, and he was going to what he should have done days ago.

X

He found Anzu Masaki standing outside of the bus stop before school. He checked to make sure she was completely alone before he made a move up to her.

"Atemu," Anzu exclaimed in surprise as Atemu took a seat next to her in the bus shelter.

"Masaki," Atemu returned.

"You know everyone called me Anzu," Anzu said. "It seems soo old fashioned these days to call people by their last names."

Atemu looked off into the distant street ahead. "Not really."

"I am sure you are not here to talk to me about Japanese customs," Anzu said. "Are you here so could can explain to me why I have not seen much of Yugi lately?"

Atemu turned to look as the girl. "Has Yugi not been at school?"

Anzu shook her head. "Ryou told me the specifics of what he said Yugi had told him, but I want to hear it from the source himself."

Atemu titled his head. "What did Ryou say?"

"Why don't you tell me what you think Yugi has hold him?"

Atemu sighed. "I think Yugi might have over heard me lying to Vivian Wong about how I am pretending to get close to Yugi so I can slowly nudge him away from playing in the Duel Monsters tournament. He most likely just caught the final bit where I stupidly said that I really found Yugi quiete annoying and easily manipulated…"

"That is about what Ryou told me."

"So you can help me," Atemu said.

Anzu's mouth fell open and she stood up abruptly. "Are you kidding me?"

Atemu fused his eyebrows together as he too took to his feet. "I do not understand why you are looking at me as if I have said something completely stupid."

"But you have," Anzu said. "You have seriously said the most stupid thing I never thought I would hear anyone say. Do you seriously think I am going to help someone like _you _to help sort out the shit you have caused. Do you really think I will let you manipulate me as you do Yugi so you can just do it all over again?"

Atemu held his hands out. "Anzu listen. I did not mean what I said to Vivian because it was all a lie."

"Why did you even say such a silly thing in the first place?" Anzu asked. "Sure, it could be a lie, but you are still hurting my best friend's feelings by using him as a pawn piece in your own game of chess against Pegasus!"

"I can promise you this that what you say is not true," Atemu said. "I would never want to hurt anyone, not in the least Yugi, ever again. I have changed since meeting Yugi, I am becoming a better man."

"Your actions still show that you are still the same man that I knew twelve months ago," Anzu said. "You are scared of what you will become if you lose the respect of Pegasus, of what you will do without the conveniences of titles."

Atemu found he was at a loss for words. Anzu's own hit him hard and he found himself falling back into the seat of the shelter as they began to settle into his skin and take over his thoughts.

Anzu was glaring at him and she slowly folded her arms. "Are we done here?"

Atemu looked up from his feet to Anzu once more. "Anzu, please. If there is not just one tiny bit of hope within you can you please give me one last chance to prove myself?"

Anzu regarded him, he titled her head as her eyes raked up every inch of his face. She sighed as she then collapsed into the seat next to him. She looked off into the distance.

"As much I would love to ruin your chances of never breaking Yugi's heart again, the way you save Jonouchi from Tetsu has made me see you in a different light," she said, she twisted her body towards Atemu. "You have got a lot of work ahead in order to earn back everyone's trust, Yugi most of all, and if you can handle it then I can let this event pass us."

Anzu pulled out her cell phone and held her free hand out. "You had come to me for a way to contact Yugi, am I right?"

Atemu passed his own phone over. "I was just hoping for whatever information I could get."

Moments later she handed his phone back to him. "You have Yugi's cell phone number now so you can call him to arrange something."

"Thank you."

When Atemu did not make any indications to leave Anzu sighed as she reaching into her bag.

"What are you doing?"

She pulled a loose pen and scrap paper and without saying anything she began to scribble something down, using the plastic on the back of the shelter as her support.

When she was done he passed Atemu the paper. "An address might make things a lot easier."

Atemu tilted his head to one side and he stared down at the face hand-written address.

"No go!" Anzu said. "Before I change my mind."

X

Solomon Moto was just finishing up the last of the cleaning before closing up the shop early. With a broom in hand, he was sweeping round one of the display pieces for one of the hottest new games. He moved slowly trying to avoid straining his back that had been giving him a headache all day. He loved being the caretaker for this old place, and most importantly the father figure which Yugi had lacked in his earlier life. He did not want Yugi to worry; he just wanted the boy to be happy and enjoy the time he had right now. He did not need to worry himself with a trivial job, or the hardships of an old man.

He was just finishing when he heard the sound of the shop's bell above the door going off. He turned around curiously and laid his broom against one of the cabinets.

"Hello there," Solomon greeted.

Before him stood a lanky teenager dressed in leather pants and a loose-fitting tank top, but what was the oddest to Solomon was his hair, there was so much of it, but also very similar to Yugi's hair. He smiled secretly to himself as he decided it must just be a trend going around right now.

"Hello," The teenager replied, his eyes darting through the shop nervously.

"I can't say I have ever seen you before," Solomon said, "Are you new to town?"

The teenager looked at him strangely and shook his head. "I have just not been in this shop before."

He broke his attention from Solomon and his eyes looked around the shop once more, taking in all his surroundings. There was a small smile forming on his face in that moment.

"If I had known this was here I would have come here years ago!"

Solomon smiled at the enthusiastic boy, "What do you like then?"

"I am quite a fan of most games, although I have not played many for a long time; however I am not here for games. Is there a Yugi that lives here?"

"Yes, there is," Solomon said. "Are you are a friend from his school?"

The boy nodded. "My name is Atemu, could I see him perhaps?"

Solomon regarded Atemu for a moment before he maneuverer his way through the shop and disappeared for a few minutes.

X

"Yugi," Solomon called up the stairs hoping his grandson would hear him.

There was the sound of rustling from upstairs and Solomon could just Yugi putting aside homework papers from his bed as he climbed out to investigate what his grandpa wanted. There was the faint sound of a door being opened, soft footsteps, and then Solomon saw Yugi poking his head down the stairs.

"What?" He asked rather irritably.

Solomon chose to ignore his grandson's mood that he had been in all afternoon and beckoned him to come downstairs.

"There is a rather nice boy in the shop who is asking for you," He explained.

"Who is it?" Yugi asked attentively making his away down the stairs clad only in socks, a loose white shirt and black shorts.

Solomon mumbled something that was barely audible as he pushed Yugi along through the back rooms of the shop. Then, he stopped and spoke more clearly. "I will go have some tea, and I will give you and your friend some privacy, but when you are done don't go cleaning the shop without me."

"It's no big deal I can just manage the store for the next hour, you can have some rest."

Yugi smiled at his grandpa and the old man gave him a playful eye roll before he turned and disappeared up the stairs. Yugi turned face-to-face with the door, taking a deep breath in and a slow exhale. He wondered who would be visiting him. He decided to cut the suspense, and he pushed the door open to the store. His eyes scanned around the room and realised it was relatively empty, all bar a figure standing at the far ends of the shop with his back to Yugi observing the duel monsters section. As Yugi made his way from round the counter, it quickly became apparent who had paid a visit to him.

He stopped in his tracks wishing at that moment he could run back to his room and hide in his textbooks, anything to avoid looking at the boy before him and feeling the same sense of shock and betrayal that he had felt earlier.

He backed up; however before he had time to runaway his backside hit the counter's edge, the impact caused Yugi to curse softly from the firm stab from the corner of the desk and a container fell to the ground. Atemu spun round in the direction of the ruckus, looking slightly shell-shocked.

Saying nothing, Yugi rubbed his back and crouched down to retrieve the items that had fallen from the container. Moments later an extra pair of hands was added the equation which made it even hard to avoid the man in question as their skin brushed multiple times when they went to grab the same object. He could feel the skin under his eyes and the ridge of his nose burning, but he kept his head low to avoid having to look at Atemu's face. Their hands had brushed as their fingers fumbled to retrieve the last object, and Yugi quickly pulled it away and he stood up letting Atemu retrieve the container. He could feel the ghost which remained of the contact and he wanted to cut his hand off to stop the pain. Instead, he rubbed it roughly against his shirt. Yugi took a step back, his eyes falling onto Atemu as he rose holding the container in one hand, he placed it back on the counter. Yugi knew there would be no more running.

Yugi folded his arms, and he looked at Atemu, narrowing his eyes. Atemu shifted uncomfortably on his feet, his eyes unsettled as they did not focus on one thing for very long as they tried to escape. He looked like a weak school kid in that single moment and nothing like the popular boy be was supposed to be.

Atemu cried, his voice sounding shaky as he spoke. "Yugi."

Yugi took a slow breath out, unfolding his arms as his fortress slowly crumbled under the weight of Atemu's abnormally quiet voice. It struck a chord in his heart as he spoke his name with such raw emotion. He couldn't find it in his heart to hate Atemu for what he did, but he was still angry at him. He did not know what to do now that Atemu stood before him, looking broken.

"Why are you here?" Yugi asked calmly, resisting the urge to punch the boy in the face.

"To apologise for what I said to Vivian," He said pulling his eyes up to look at Yugi, "I had just lied to her because I knew that she wants to use our friendship against me-"

Yugi spat, screwing his face up. "You… what about me? Did you ever think about what your actions would do to me? They already tease me on a daily basis for being too short, being too weak, being too low on their pecking order. Now that they think you are the instigator of some sick joke against me, it's going to be even worse!"

"I wasn't thinking, okay?" Atemu said. "I did it because I was scared."

Yugi raised an eyebrow at Atemu, unsure what to do now. The lull in the conversation gave them both a moment to think, before the next person said something stupid. He pulled his hands from his trouser pockets and rubbed a hand through his hair. Yugi examined him hard, waiting for the cracks to appear through the thick boy's skin, so he could tear him apart, he was unsure of what to believe in now. Yugi wanted to forgive Atemu so desperately, but he kept losing faith in the boy with every event that happened.

"What do you mean?" Yugi questioned his voice composed as he spoke. "What are you scared about?"

Atemu pulled at the ends of his hair. "I mean what I said when I said that you were my friend."

"But your actions surely don't say that!"

"I will admit that I am scared about defying Pegasus," Atemu said. "Scared of the power he holds over me when I wish I was strong enough to just stop caring what the rest of the world thinks of me and start living that freedom I have been soo desperately seeking. I want to feel the warm sun on my skin and bathe in the cool waters of true friends who have not expectations, who are just as free as those not defined by their social status."

Atemu broke into a passionate explanation as he threw his voice out to the empty shore, the frustration was bare on his face. "I have been letting people rule my life for too long. Why should I care that Pegasus is jealous of your skills as a gamer, I should be having a duel with you in here whilst we laugh about how stupid this whole situation is. I mean seriously who else would care about some dumb games title soo much they would be willing to send goons out because they really have no natural ability what so ever except the power of blackmail?"

Atemu's eyes caught back onto Yugi's own and small smile blinked in and out of existence between them.

"The thing with Vivian…"Atemu said."I was confused more than anything. You see, lying to people like Vivian comes natural to me, a natural survival skill between the cool kids. I suppose it could be said then that I do not truly mean what I said about you. I do not want our friendship to be ruined by my stupid decision and horrible words."

Atemu could feel something else tugging on his heart that he just had to follow through with. "If it also makes your feel better for the past couple of days I have not thought of anything else than of the guilt I feel for this whole situation. I feel guilty at the feelings I get as people look up to me in the hierarchy of the school. I wish I could be liked by everyone and still get what I want."

Atemu studied Yugi, he was desperate for an answer.

He pleaded. "Yugi, say something."

Yugi did not look the teen in the eye as he replied. "I don't know what to say."

Atemu grabbed the first conversation changer that came to his mind. He did not want things to result back to them being awkward or Yugi shutting himself out. He had to show Yugi that he was worth putting the time into.

"I like this shop," Atemu said.

"I live here with my Grandpa," Yugi said, beginning to walk slowly passed Atemu to stand in front of the _Duel Monsters_ stand, he grabbed an unopened packet of cards to look at it. "I have lived here since I was a small boy so pretty much games have been the centre of my life."

"I did not know you played soo many games," Atemu said watching Yugi's every move with much interest, coming up to stand by him at the stand. He looked away from Yugi for a moment to examine what the boy was holding. Yugi's eyes were twinkling as their eyes connected. "Wait, now I understand."

"What?"

"Pegasus is jealous of your ability as a duellist... he sent to me to-"

"I have already for given you for that you idiot," Yugi laughed.

"No, but he said you are really good at it... a king?"

"There's a lot you don't know about me, popular boy."

Atemu pointed to the stand. "You like _Duel Monsters_."

Yugi laughed despite himself. "Like, I don't _like_ _Duel Monsters_, I _love Duel Monsters_."

"That will explain why you never bothered to heed my warnings."

Yugi suddenly dropped the card packet back into it place, and he turned to face Atemu, he pointed at the bulge in his own pocket. The look of alarm from Atemu made Yugi chuckle.

"I always carry my deck around," Yugi said. "The habit started when Jou kept nagging me into a game of Duel Monsters cards almost every lunch break. Now I feel naked without it at my side."

He broke off his explanation, reaching into his pocket he pulled out a somewhat worn looking deck of cards held tightly by a rubber band. He looked down at it in both of his hands like it was the most important thing in his life. A loving look only reserved for a favourite toy or lover plastered on his face. The change of his attention caught Atemu off guard as Yugi looked back up without all the anger his face had processed earlier. The boy looked tired.

"This used to be Grandpa's deck," Yugi explained. "He gave it to be when I went to compete in my first regional tournament."

Atemu decided to play the dumb fan for the period as he pretended to forget for the moment that he knew anything about Yugi's duelling past. "You completed in _Duel Monster_ tournaments?"

Yugi blushed. "Yeah I did, during middle school, I got the official title 'Prince of Games' for the under thirteen. I wasn't soo much into the game as I was chess, however, I won a national tournament in my final year against Pegasus before I stopped playing competitively on both sides."

"And you still play Duel Monsters with your friends, didn't you say?"

Yugi nodded. "I don't play on such a scale anymore, but I still play with my friends during lunch and when grandpa is up for a game. The funny thing that you mention that though is that Jou and I were thinking of entering the next regional tournament... I think I have a great reason to now, because I now know the king of the school is entering it. It might give me a chance to knock him off his podium!"

Yugi held out his deck to Atemu. "I am still thinking about what you said earlier and I am still annoyed at you, but if you promise to never lie about our friendship again then you can have a look at this."

Atemu cautiously took the deck from Yugi's holding it like it was a piece of his heart. It was almost too much for him to bear as he thought back to the promise he made Anzu and he the promise he was making now with Yugi.

He pushed back the immediate thoughts as he closed his eyes to let himself grasp at what Yugi's offering and symbolised in that moment. After holding the deck which had been warmed by Yugi's own body head for several minutes he opened his eyes to look at Yugi, he could feel his heart beginning to swell.

Atemu smiled thankfully at the gift he had been given for a short while and after turning the cards round and looking through them he handed them carefully back to Yugi.

"You will have to teach me sometime," Atemu said. "I am very rusty when it comes to games; my father has not let me played them in such a long time."

"But you are in Japan now, and isn't your father in Egypt?"

"He is, and I probably could have started playing them when I arrived in Japan, I just never thought about it."

Yugi noticed that Atemu was eyeing the card in the stand with much interest. "Take some, grandpa won't mind."

Atemu attentively reached out and grabbed a selection feeling curious and playful like a kid at Christmas, he was surprised that he was this excited to be finding out what cards lay behind the silver packaging.

"Bring your favourite selection to school tomorrow," Yugi said. "I will bring some of my old ones that might be useful and I can help you craft up a deck. I might be able to teach you a few of my secrets that is if you will be good."

Atemu laughed holding a handful of cards as he turned back to Yugi. "I will do as you command."

"Don't give me that."

"Thank you, Yugi," Atemu said.

Yugi waved, sending the man off on his way.

X


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

He could not fucking believe his luck, He had yet another detention, and to top it all off it was with that annoying brat. It did not help that Atemu had been in a bad mood yesterday, Bakura has been in a pissed mood all day. He did not know what happened between Atemu leaving yesterday morning looking like death and returning home with a huge smile stuck to his face. Whatever it was he was not getting answers about anything.

Bakura had entered the school first thing that morning and barely a foot in he collided into Ryou in the hall making his way to English, _and_ he just had to decide to call the boy a series of words just as a teacher was emerging from his office. The fact that the teacher sent _both_ of them to his office made up for the fact Bakura's day had been going downhill all day. He quickly became pissed again because they had to wait in silence for a good half an hour before the teacher returned to punish them. Teachers could be the most forgetful creatures sometimes…

The teacher come in at the exact moment Bakura was grabbing Ryou up by the loose material around his neck, pulling him close to his face so he could glare at him.

"What are you doing?" The teacher asked sounding alarmed as he ran over to pull Bakura's grip from the English boy's clothes.

Bakura pulled back and returned to his seat adjacent to Ryou's own seat, acting unfazed as he leaned casually into the chair and put his feet up against the small coffee table in front of him. Ryou looked petrified, his eyes wide and his hair sticking up as he found himself in the attention of the teacher.

"Tell me Ryou," The teacher began. "What happened?"

Ryou shrugged, looking away to stare at his shaking hands which clung to his thighs.

"He was being annoying," Bakura replied causally, causing the teacher to take a step back and look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I have told you multiple times Mr. Massri," The teacher said sternly his eyes glancing over the two boys before him. "Bullying will not be tolerated. Now you will be having detention with me at lunch time."

His eyes suddenly turned to look at Ryou, "considering I do not have time to deal with this now, we will all meet back here at lunch to discuss this. That will give you both enough time to decide how you want this to be dealt with, or we can get the principal involved."

X

So here they were now, sitting on opposite chairs facing each other with a table between them and a teacher playing judge off to the side. Bakura had protested, he had tried to ditch the detention all together, but it was like there was some hidden tracker deep within his skin. He was cornered in the bathroom within five minutes of entering by the principal and the teacher; they then escorted him to the classroom.

Bakura glared coldly at the teen opposite him and frowned. It was all his entire fault; if he hadn't been so ugly then Bakura wouldn't have been tempted in the slightest to call him names, and if he had not done that he would not be wasting he free time do with crap.

"Now, we will start with Ryou, tell me what happened," The teacher instructed, leaning his lower back against the desk and folding his arms as he looked at Ryou expectantly.

Ryou's eyes looked wide in fear, his lips trembling as he took them from the teacher to stare at Bakura opposite him. His face suddenly became firm, his eyes narrowing as he pulled a finger up to point at Bakura directly.

"I have not done anything," He said. "I do not know what this… _wanker _has against me, I can assure you I would love to know!"

Bakura shot to his feet, shaking his head he came in close to Ryou eyeing him and baring his teeth as he attacked him bitterly with a retort. "You destroyed by metalwork project, you look like me, your laugh is incredibly infuriating, you are a looser, you don't know a thing of Japanese, need I say anymore? It is like you have been put on this earth to taunt me or something!"

Ryou forcefully place his hands on either side of Bakura's chest and pushed him back forcefully. Bakura's eyes widened at the boy's courage and it only made him more determined to clean the floor with him.

"We got an A minus for that project, and if I recall correctly the teacher did say that it was the best he had ever seen you produce since being in his cla-"

"It is the first one that I have ever bothered to hand in, he is prick anyway."

"Stop right there," The teacher instructed them, drawing the teen's attention to him. "You will both be spending this break writing a letter of apology to each other. I on the other hand will be having a warm drink and planning a meeting with the school board to discuss you continued disruptive behaviour."

Bakura sighed, looking down at his nails. "Whatever."

"I will just be in the staff room next door, I will return at the end of the break."

The teacher turned and exited the room. Several seconds later Bakura was up and making his away over to one of the open windows. Ryou pulled himself from his chair and went over to investigate.

"What are you doing?" Ryou asked.

"Escaping, what does it look like?" Bakura snapped back, ignoring the teen behind him as he began testing some of the latches on the windows and peering down to see how far the ground was.

He quickly found a window and pushed it fully open. There was a fire escape not far below and without a second thought with a quick stretch of his muscles he began to lift his legs up and over the ledge. His arm muscles tensed under the weight of his body as grabbed hold of the window's edges and he let his legs dangle in the air. He looked down and judged that the fall was at least three metres.

"You will get in trouble!"

Bakura looked back with a smug smirk. "It seems I am already in as much trouble as I could be by the sounds of the board meeting. At least I can spend my last few lunch times at school a free man."

He let his hands go and he swung his body down to the shaky platform, landing confidently on his feet he grabbed the railing to steady himself. Ryou looked down at Bakura's form from the mouth of the open window. His insides were turning, was he really thinking of climbing out of this window? After a quick glance in the direction of the closed door he knew that whether he stayed or went with Bakura there would be trouble either way. He was surprised despite this observation that he chose what he did next.

"I do not know why I am even doing this!" Ryou exclaimed softly to himself.

He held his breath and slowly edged his legs over the windowsill, dangling out of the edge with his bottom securing him down he grabbed hold of the window frame to steady himself. He slowly twisted his hips until he was facing the building. He could hear down below Bakura taunting him, but he chose to ignore them as he took another deep breath and let go of his holding on the window.

There was a moment of free falling before his feet made impact with a hard surface; his ankles immediately began to ache from the force. After he had steadied himself he looked around to find Bakura still standing nearby, watching him with curiosity, his face looked confused and surprised all at once. Ryou did not want to spend any more time on the platform as it felt the screws securing it to the wall were going to break any second. They creaked and scrapped against the brick in their holdings making Ryou feel nervous.

"Let's go," Ryou instructed pushing passed Bakura as he dropped down the ladder to the ground and Bakura quickly followed suit.

Normally Bakura would have ditched the loose baggage by now, but something was holding him back. He had almost admired Ryou in a way for following him despite being a teacher's pet -let's faces it he was- because it went against all he believed. Ryou's actions showed the boy had guts and Bakura was intrigued by that fact, he wanted to know what else he could do.

He followed Ryou halfway across a basketball court, which had a game in the process at that time. The teen spun around to look at Bakura as he realised he was being followed. He did not even realise he was stopping in the path of a player until he was push violently to the side as the taller man sore at him dropping the ball he had been bouncing.

"Get off the court!" A group of players said.

Ryou was completely obvious to the game in play as his attention focused on the teen following him.

"Why are you following me?" He asked, speaking in English before he could stop himself, the way he spoke it was strangely arousing to Bakura.

Bakura laughed using that opportunity to reply to him in the teens own tongue. "I was just wondering what happened between you being a complete teacher's pet, to you being a complete badass cutting detention… Were you scared?"

His face broke into an amused smile and Ryou scowled at him. Some boys dressed in basketball uniforms suddenly surrounded the two of them, looking slightly annoyed that the two of them had stopped in their game of basketball.

"Fuck off mate can't you see we are in a game here!" A tall skinny boy with long blonde hair cursed, holding the basketball in both hands looking like he was about to throw it at Ryou.

"I'm sorry," Ryou said in Japanese sounding shy and little all of a sudden, a great change from how he had spoken to Bakura moments ago.

The player suddenly realised the taller muscular boy standing opposite Ryou and his satisfied smirk dissolved into a look of terror. His eyes bulged from his tiny head and he dropped his ball in that moment, he was shaking rather violently.

"B-B-Bakura…"

He was suddenly off leaving his friends on the court as he ran away. Bakura laughed, eyeing the collection of players before he grabbed Ryou by the shoulder and directed him off the court. He turned to Ryou when they were out of the way, dropping his grip from the boy's arm.

"Why do you have to scare people all the time?"

Bakura shrugged. "They court isn't just for them to play their stupid little games!"

Ryou sighed as he remembered that he did not really care after all.

"Bye then," Ryou said, he turned walking away.

"W-w-wait, you are leaving already?"

Ryou glanced over his shoulder. "It is lunchtime."

Bakura did not even acknowledge Ryou's second goodbye as he wandered in the opposite direction, feeling in desperate need of a cigarette. He pulled out his phone to send Atemu a text to asking him where he was.

X

The following day after Yugi and Atemu had put their fight behind them Atemu was hanging around with Mariku in one of his rare moments when he had decided to turn up to school. Atemu was watching his friend pull up weights as he sat on a spin machine he had just done a thirty minute round in. He picked up his water bottle to take a swing at its wet insides.

"Did I tell you that on Monday night I had some visitors turn up at my house?" Mariku asked.

Atemu stepped down from the bike whipping at his sweaty brow. "No."

Mariku laughed. "Marik bought over his friends Ryou and Yugi and you will not believe what they told me."

Atemu stopped in his tracks and he eyed his friend. "Really?"

Mariku between sat up on the weights bench and his eyes connected with Atemu's own. "I was told that you, the great cool boy of Egypt, have been hanging with a boy. And you didn't even tell me!"

Atemu shrugged. "It slipped my mind."

Mariku gave his friend a small devious smirk. "If that's how you want to play."

Atemu left his friend lifting weights as he headed out of the gym and as he passed the changing rooms he was just in time to see Anzu emerge from behind one of the doors dressed in tight gym wear. She looked up from her music player as he noticed him standing in her way and her face broke into a look of surprise.

Anzu spoke, her voice with a tang of surprise. "Atemu, what are you doing in here?"

"I come here every so often when my friends want a gym partner," Atemu said.

Anzu grabbed him rather abruptly and pulled him away from the main corridor in the gym. They found themselves in the girl's changing room and as he glanced around he began to feel uncomfortable. Not only was the unbearable stench of perfume overbearing, but just the thought of being in a place where he might see a naked girl any moment made his insides squirm. He could tell right away she had something serious to say. He found feel the nerves start to settle in.

"So, how did your make up with Yugi turn out?"

"I went well. Better than I expected."

"So we will be seeing more of you now?"

"I hope so."

Anzu's expression turned hard as she came up closer and her voice dropped. "What are you playing at anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you hope to get a friendship out of Yugi, or something more?"

Atemu's mouth fell open. "I do not fully grasp the question."

Anzu pressed her lips together and her eyes darted around before she settled them on Atemu. "I have over heard Bakura talking to one of his friends today and it got me wondering if you and he are… _Attracted to both sides of the lake_."

Atemu stood strong, unfazed by the girl's curiosity. He looked into her eyes for a good few moments, as if trying to make out what her reaction would be if he came out with the truth. He took a slow breath, paring down at the ground to kick at an invisible ball. As his foot landed back on the ground his vision shot back up. He slowly nodded his huge hair bobbing as he did so. Anzu eyes widened, a hand clutching her heart as she looked at Atemu as if she had just had her own mini heart attack. It did not take her long however to calm down and return to normal.

Atemu narrowed his eyes. He knew that she was too smart for her own good and he quickly mimicked the action of zipping his lips up to Anzu. She seemed to take they hint because she nodded. He felt some relief on his shoulders from that. "So you have nothing against that?"

Anzu shook her head. "I am friends with a whole group of bisexuals and gay men. I can assure you that I would be on your side if it came to an argument of sexual orientations."

"I take it that you think I have a crush on Yugi?"

"No," Anzu said, far too quickly for Atemu to believe her entirely. "I am just wanting to let you know what if you ever did fall for him that you were aware of the risks."

"And those would be?"

"Yugi is straight from what I know about him," Anzu said. "He has had this giant crush on me since we were in primary school and before Jonouchi started dating Kaiba he and Yugi used to watch porn and go bikini watching at the pool."

"He could be bisexual like Jonouchi," Atemu pointed out.

Anzu shook her head. "I am sure that he is not."

There was an intense sinking feeling deep in Atemu's stomach, like there had been an inflated balloon he had been riding on for the last week, and suddenly someone had found their away into his fortress with a large pin and had popped it. He let go of the air he had been holding trapped in his lungs and slowly it escaped his mouth. His eyes couldn't look Anzu in the eyes at that moment, and they retreated to the pavement between them. He could feel that familiar lump slowly building up in his throat as the guilt and the growing sense of disappointment seeped into every dark corner of his mind and body. Slowly, he shook the girls hand away from his shoulder.

Anzu gave him a look of sympathy, and took a step back from him. She could see the feelings grappling inside of Atemu, glazing behind his eyes. He held himself strong, after retreating back behind a solid wall and a blank face.

"You like him don't you?" Anzu asked.

Atemu shot her a narrowed look, he could feel his eyes become weak as he spoke. "No."

Anzu looked down as her wrist watch. "I have maybe twenty minutes now to get a last minute workout so I guess I will be seeing you later."

She moved out of the changing rooms and Atemu followed her. She gave him a quick wave before she jogged briskly away. Atemu retreated into the males changing rooms to recompose himself and think about Anzu's questions.

X

"You are getting really good at this!" Yugi exclaimed as Atemu sent one of his monsters to the graveyard. "Are you sure you have never played Duel Monsters before?"

Atemu looked up from his deck as he leaned back against the tree with a small smile on his face. He had not had this fun in a while, playing a carefree game of cards.

He was glad things were going smoother with Yugi after a couple of days from hell. Yugi was perhaps one of the most forgiving people Atemu knew and if he was honest with himself if he was in Yugi's shoes he would not been so forgiving. It just showed that there was hardly enough people in the world like Yugi. He did not deserve someone as kind and selfless as Yugi and yet the Gods have given him such a being.

They were taking each day at a time and seeing where it ended up takin them. Atemu treasured the small moments they shared together and every new fact he discovered about the boy made him feel closer to Yugi than anyone else he had ever met.

It did not take him long to draw to the conclusion that he was falling for Yugi.

And having a crush was rather fun. He had butterflies every time he shared a small smile with Yugi or heard the boy talk passionately to him about Duel Monsters. It did not really matter what the conversation or the context they were in it only needed Yugi being himself for his insides to break down. He really could to think straight as well when that happened to a lot of the time his words became mumbles between reddened checks and shaking hands. Any one would think they had never seen someone in love if they could not see how Atemu was slowly developing feelings for Yugi. He was glad that no one bought it up.

"I can assure you Yugi," Atemu said, as he selected a card from his hand and placed in face-down in defence mode in front of him, "that I have never played this game before in my life."

Yugi gave him a sceptical look as he ordered his dark magician to attack the face-down card. He reached over to turn Atemu's card over when the boy sat up and grabbed his hand to stop him from moving his hand.

"Wait just one moment!"

He revealed one of his magic cards on the field. "This card can block your attack!"

"Good," Yugi said, as he took his own monster and placed it in defence mode. "I was just testing your reactions."

Atemu opened his mouth to reply before he noticed a passing figure had caught Yugi's attention and his own eyes trailed in the direction of the boy.

"Ryou, I thought you had detention with Bakura!" Yugi exclaimed.

X

Ryou looked up from his feet as he had been walking by and saw Yugi was sitting under one of the trees outlining the school perimeter with his duel deck out playing a game with someone he vaguely recognised. Yugi's partner looked exactly like Yugi, except he was slightly taller and had more blond bangs running through his spiked up mane.

Ryou slowly veered over to the pair, giving Yugi a friendly smile as he approached them. Yugi got up from his spot to pull his friend in for a brief hug, laughing as he pulled back rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Ryou's attention ran over the seated boy and he raised an eyebrow at Yugi.

"Oh, sorry I should introduce myself," The boy apologised as he awkwardly stood up and came over to the friends, he held out his left hand to Ryou. "My name is Atemu."

Then it struck Ryou as he accepted the boy's hand. "I am glad it seems that you have worked things out."

Atemu nodded. "I am glad that Yugi is such a great friend. Now I don't know what other things Yugi has said about me, but I have heard a bit about you."

He gave Ryou and unsettling all-knowing smile. Ryou figured after seeing Bakura hanging out with his boy a few times that Bakura would have told Atemu a lot about his school life and those he did not like particularly. This made Ryou slight curious to know what was exactly exchanged between the two about the subject.

"Coming from your friend Bakura?" Ryou asked, not trying so sound as annoyed as it came out.

Atemu's expression fell and he pulled his hand quickly away. His eyes retreated to a spot on the ground, as he took a cautious step back; it seemed Ryou must have struck a sensitive spot.

"I'm sorry," Atemu murmured, giving Ryou a small glance. "I am just not on speaking terms with Bakura right now."

Ryou smirked. "I won't blame you, he's a prick."

Yugi looked at his friend, surprised that he knew such a word in his vocabulary. He then turned back to Atemu, not failing to note the saddened look on his face, he held up his hand of cards smiling hopefully wanting to draw his friend back for a game. Atemu gave him a small graceful smile before following his lead and returning to his spot under the tree. As the boys readied themselves again Ryou remembered he had left his lunch in his locker, but to avoid having to go into the school to retrieve it he pulled out his wallet.

"I'm just going to go buy some lunch from the sushi shop across the road," Ryou explained.

Yugi looked up from his hand. "You could have my sandwich if you want… save you a trip?"

Ryou shook his head. "It's no big deal; I will just be ten minutes at the most. See you!"

Once the white-haired boy had disappeared Atemu looked up from his deck at Yugi.

"Do you think Ryou feels uncomfortable around me?" Atemu asked. "You did say he was one of your friends who felt most strongly against you not spending time with me plus knowing I am friends with Bakura?"

Yugi laughed slightly. "Don't be ridiculous. Ryou is not one to hold on to grudges. He respects my decisions better than most people."

Atemu let a sigh of relieve pass through him and his muscles relax a bit. He looked around for his backpack as he felt a hunger surge racing through his stomach. Hidden beside the tree he grabbed his bag with his free hand and began to unzip the mouth of it.

"Ryou is a great friend," Yugi said. "He does not think I am naive for one which some of my other friends admit to thinking. He respects I am older enough to look after myself and that's probably why I call him one of my best friends."

Atemu felt curious. "Who would you say is your best friends?"

Yugi's face bloomed as he looked up into the sky in thought. "I would say Ryou because he is easy to talk to, Jou because he is pretty much the bother I never had, Anzu because we have been through so much together and…"

He dropped his eyes on Atemu for a split second before he found an interest in the grass before him.

"I only have one best friend," Atemu said. "Bakura. He might get on my nerves sometimes, but he has been my constant hand to hold throughout all the low and high points in my life."

Yugi looked at him curiously, his finger playing with the edges of glass. "Atemu, do you think in a couple of months, or years we might be able agree that we are a lot closer than some friends. Close enough to even be best friends?"

Atemu lifted his head to look at Yugi. "I think that's a really possibility.

Yugi gave him a small grateful smile.

"Has any of your friends said anything to you?" Atemu asked, placing his cards face down on the grass to take a sandwich into his mouth. He stopped midway from his mouth and glanced up at Yugi. "About me, I mean."

"A couple of things…" Yugi trailed off, feeling slightly guilty that he had bought up the subject. He quickly came back with a response. "They admire what you did for Jou."

"Let's just not think about that right now," Atemu insisted looking down at the game in mid-play. "How about we get back to you teaching me a few new things about this game?"

"Alright," Yugi said. "Any questions so far?"

Atemu grabbed his cards from the grass, he head back on his free hand, gazing up and he chewed on the sandwich bits in his mouth, smiling. "Can it be about anything?"

Yugi nodded quickly, his concentration fully on the cards he was playing. Atemu knew exactly what he was going to ask the boy and a smirk erupted on his face knowingly. He was glad Yugi was not looking at him at that moment or otherwise he would know Atemu's intentions.

"What is your favourite colour?"

Yugi's attention snapped a card he had in mid-air fell out of his hand as he looked up at Atemu in surprise. His face went slightly red and his eyes fell down to the fallen card. The fact he had been asked such a trivial question and he had been caught off-guard made his face turn extra scarlet.

"Umm … red, why do you want to know that?" Yugi asked with an extended eyebrow up his forehead.

Atemu shrugged causally as he leaned in closer to Yugi. "I want to know everything about you."

"Well then, you have to tell me yours, this can't just go all one way you know!"

Atemu laughed. "I don't have a favourite colour, but if I were to have a list: red, purple, and black."

"Seriously?"

Atemu nodded adamantly as he maintained a strong face. "Yeah, red 'cause it looks cool, purple 'cause it's seen as the international gay colour and black 'cause it looks good with everything."

"It's my turn now then to ask a question," Yugi pointed out.

"Ask away!" Atemu placed his cards down, forgotten as he sprawled down along the grass on his side, watching Yugi intently.

"Do you fancy anyone?"

Atemu's heart began to run a mile, his mind losing control. He did not know what to say next. He could just lie to Yugi, but then what would that make him? He could feel his body going tense and his set smile faltering as he tried to recompose himself.

"Why are you asking me?" He questioned, his face going slightly red as he pulled his face away to conceal it from Yugi, he could hear Yugi giving him a teasing laugh, but in a good naturally away of curiosity.

"I'm just asking, it's alright if you're too shy to say… do I know her?" Yugi was on his hands and knees, looking t Atemu with amusement.

Of course Yugi would assume it was a girl he was attracted to… Atemu did not like that.

"Yugi," Atemu said finding his voice, his serious tone caused Yugi to stop his light hearted teasing.

Atemu gave himself a moment to reform his thoughts. He took a deep breath in and let the air pass out his lounges at a soothing rate, thinking about how he could say this to Yugi without sounding like an idiot.

"I am not attracted to girls," He said bluntly, his heart stopping for a moment as he looked at Yugi square on.

Yugi looked at Atemu strangely, it was an unreadable expression that Atemu has never seen before and he was scared how he would respond. Yugi opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by Ryou and Otogi sitting down beside the group, chatting away.

"Yugi, look who I found!" Ryou indicated excitedly to Otogi.

"When did you start happily chatting to one another?"

"Classical history," Otogi explained. "We were paired for a presentation on Hades. The only I could get him to help was by agreeing to stop teasing him about Bakura."

The way Otogi's eyes stared at Yugi far too long for Atemu liking and his stomach twisted, and he cloud feel his grip on one of his cards tightening. Otogi quickly became aware of Atemu's presence the boy turned to look at him and his smile became a thin line, his brow switched together. He seemed to not be fussed about who Atemu actually was and he did not question the presence of the popular boy, which was something to be thankful for.

"You are playing a game of Duel Monsters!" He shouted excitedly.

"Yeah we are, I was just teaching Atemu the rules," Yugi explained. "We kind of got distracted though, and have been talking about other things instead. Yugi kept look at Atemu with a strange look that made him feel uneasy, he could tell the boy desperately wished his friends had not interrupted when they did.

"Want to continue playing?" Yugi asked Atemu.

Atemu suddenly felt his phone going off in his pocket and he looked down at it to see an unknown number calling him. Atemu kindly rejected the offer, flashing his ringing phone up to show he was getting a call and he pulled himself up and of to the side where he wouldn't be disruptive.

"Hello?"

The other side of the line was silent for a moment then:

"Atemu."

The voice on the end of the call caught him off-guard. He had not heard that Egyptian drawl in a long time. Atemu steadied himself from wanting to collapse in shock as he readjusted his grip on his phone.

"Father."

x


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

"Hey Atemu, want to come to the arcade after school?"

Atemu glanced over his shoulder to find Yugi running to his side as they escaped their last class for the day. The boy was wearing an expression of pure excitement to finally be done for the day. Atemu regretted having something on. "I am sorry little one, but I have a catch-up with Pegasus which has been long overdue."

Yugi examined his friend as he frowned. "Why?"

"I am curious about several things."

Yugi laughed lightly. "Well, my advice would be don't spend too long with him for as my grandpa always said that being in the presence of someone for too long will make you develop their bad habits."

"Don't worry, Yugi," Atemu said. "I just have a question for the man. I will text you later and I might come find you in the arcade."

Atemu pulled away as he glanced the silver haired teen walking nearby.

Yugi rode the wave of eager students out of the school and he quickly managed to find Ryou and Honda standing outside talking to Otogi. They turned at the sound of their friend approaching.

"Are you ready Yugi?"

Yugi flashed them a bright smile and roused them with a reply. "What sort of question is that? Of course I am!"

X

There were countless arcade games as far as the eyes could see as Atemu entered through the automatic double doors. He was hit with the sounds of the room and the thick smell of popcorn, strange considering there was not a cinema in sight. The arcade had pockets of school kids gathering around arcade games as they battled one another on the latest Pac-man spin-off or shooter. The whole complex was alive with the sounds of popular English songs mixed with the local Japanese lingo of children socializing and the jaunty tunes of games. Posters promoting the newest games and specials covered the industrial walls of the room which was probably once an office block, but had since converted to a game centre for a growing industry in Japan.

They found Jonouchi and Kaiba engaged in a battle between cars by the furthest wall; Jonouchi's yelps for help could have been recognized by anybody over the pumping sounds of games playing in the background. As his car crashed into the side of the racetrack he looked up from the screen to see who had come up behind him and his face lit up and he when he saw Yugi. He gave him a quick nod to greet his friend before he returned his attention back to regaining his place in the race.

Kaiba however did not make any move to look away from his game as he gripped the steering wheel and over took a car with a smug smirk on his face. His place went up to first place as he skilfully maneuverered his way around the corner and took the gold at the finish line.

Atemu found a natural migration pattern over to Yugi's side as he stared in bewilderment at the sights around him like an archaeologist who had just been show the greatest find of his lifetime. His eyes fell on the screens in front of him as he chuckled softly to himself before drawing his attention to the short teen beside him. Yugi was in his element and the light of pure pleasure being surrounded by his friends and the world of games flickered like a wild flame. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Yugi's hushed voice was almost too quiet to he heard over the hundreds of sounds all going off at the same time. Atemu and to drop his head just so he could hear him. "How did the meeting go?"

Atemu turned his head as he stayed in the crouched position so his head was at the same level as Yugi's own. "It could have gone a lot smoother."

"What was it about?"

Atemu's eyes trailed side wards briefly to the sound of Jonouchi squealing. "I just wanted to know a few things. Pegasus did let me know that I had failed miserably in my task to tame you and now he is planning on sending someone else to do his dirty work."

Yugi's eyes widened and his smile grew smaller. "After me?"

"After us."

Yugi opened his mouth to reply, but their attention was drawn abruptly to the sound of their friend losing his cool on the game.

Jou slammed his fists angrily against the wheel as his car hit yet another ledge and then the words 'game over' bounded across the screen with a jaunty tune as if it was trying to tease him. He cursed as he looked over at his boyfriend and pouted at Yugi when all he got from his boyfriend was a point and laugh scenario. He pulled himself out from the chair trying his best to ignore Kaiba's playful insults as he eyed Yugi. "Think you could wipe the smile off his face for me Yug'?"

Yugi glanced back at Atemu. He did not want to leave their conversation as they had. He was curious to know the details behind why Atemu had gone back to Pegasus and how it had gone completely wrong.

This was not the time. And the way Atemu and Jonouchi were egging him on he breathed a deep sigh of submission through rolled eyes.

Yugi nodded. "Bring it on!"

Yugi slipped passed Jou and took as seat next to Kaiba, he placed a coin into the machine and looked at Kaiba with a challenging smile. Kaiba was looking more relaxed than ever as he saw who was stepping up to take his boyfriend's place. "I am glad I will finally be getting a challenge."

"Oi!" Jonouchi snapped laughing despite himself.

Kaiba returned Jou a victorious grin before he returned to the beginning game before him. He turned away from the machine and placed a hand on Atemu's shoulder, rousing him from his fixed gaze on Yugi. He looked down at the hand on his shoulder, raising an eyebrow as they then went up to meet Jou's friendly smile.

"Want to grab a drink?" He suggested softly, he pointed with his head towards the bar.

"Sure," Atemu accepted.

Jou began to walk backwards towards the bar as he explained to the group he was just going to get a drink. Otogi had made a move over to follow the pair over to the bar, but the look Jou gave him an aggressive look which had him returning to Honda's side quickly.

Atemu allowed Jou to direct him through the maze of gamers and games over to the bar where it was less busy. He told Atemu to take a seat at one empty table and he went to order a pair of soft drinks from one barman. Moments later the blond teen returned with twin cokes and he handed Atemu the glass as he took a seat opposite him.

They were silent for several minutes as Jou leaned causally into his chair and sipped away at his drink, his eyes never leaving Atemu's face and he studied him intently. Atemu sat rigid as he rubbed the sides of his glass and looked into the bubbly context of the black liquid.

"Thank you."

Atemu's eyes widened as his face titled up to Jou. "What for?"

Jou shrugged as he draped his hand over the edge of an empty chair. "For standing up to Tetsu."

Atemu's face reddened as he shook his head. "You have already thanked me for doing that."

Jou shook his head. "You have been looking after my bud, if anything that's what I should be most thankful for."

The teen's eyes drifted over to the racing car game to where a little boy was rubbing Kaiba's face in the ground as he won a game.

"It's nothing," Atemu brushed away feeling his checks get hot as he felt Jou's intense eyes on him.

"So," Jou began taking a casual sip from his glass before placing it back on the counter, he leaned into his seat as his eyes drifted over to Yugi. "What is this all about?"

Atemu looked up surprised. "What do you mean?"

"This…" He pointed between the two of them and then pointed at Yugi, his voice changing as he spoke. "I have to ask because it is my job to look out for my best bud. Are you using Yugi as your ticket to becoming a better person?"

Atemu laughed nervously. "I am not using Yugi. I like his company, he is a good person."

Jou looked at him sceptically. "Then tell me, are you just hanging around because you feel in a sort of debt to us considering you did punch us for no reason a couple of weeks ago…"

Atemu shook his head. "I can assure you my intentions are genuine. You can be assured that I am a changed man from the one you met then. I am done with hanging out with people like Pegasus."

"That's good to know," Jou admitted. "I just wanted to make sure that your intentions were genuine before we accepted you into the group."

"Thank you Jou."

Jou laughed softly at the sincerity in his voice. "No problem, any friend of Yug's is a friend of mine!"

The two fell into a comfortable rhythm of conversation as Atemu felt his muscles relax and he found Jou's eyes not as scary as they had seemed a moment ago. Ten minutes passed and as Jou swallowed the last of his drink his expression seemed to change. His attention ran from the empty glass as he let it sit empty on the counter beside him, his eyes moved back up to Atemu. From the way His fingers were drumming nervously on his knees, Atemu knew in that moment the boy was holding back something.

"What else do you want to ask me?"

Jou shrugged, his face going red. He laughed nervously as his eyes darted away. "Well, this might seem silly, but from what I gathered through my conversations with Yug' and hearing about you through Anzu… When are you going to tell Yugi?"

Atemu's eyes bulged open and he nearly dropped his glass in surprise. What he really that obvious? Had Anzu said something? Surely that girl had not uttered a single word to anyone, she had promised, but then again nothing surprised him about her… He put the glass down on the counter to make sure he did not break it from shock, he could hear his heart pounding in his chest as he took a slow breath in. He really hated that he could not hide his reaction in that moment for he was sure the truth read clear all over his red checks. Atemu gave himself a few seconds before he gave up and held his head up to Jou.

"How did you…?" He trailed off speaking quietly as he eyed the boy suspiciously.

Jou shrugged as an all-knowing smirk appeared on his face which could have been almost inherited from Kaiba for how devious it looked. "I didn't know until you answered be just then."

Atemu raised an eyebrow at him and Jou laughed giving him a wink. They picked themselves up from their chairs, an unspoken agreement between them as they headed back to their friends.

"Jou!"

Atemu's heart swelled at the sound of the voice as he and Jou returned from the bar and migrated over to the group gathered around a Pac-Man game Otogi was playing. The sounds he was making suggested the ghosts were having a great feast.

"How did your duel with Kaiba go?" Jou asked Yugi.

"At least I did not fail to complete my laps before the time ran out," Kaiba interjected as Yugi opened his mouth to reply to his friend.

Kaiba came up behind Jou and grabbed him around the waist whispering something into his air as he bought his head close to his boyfriend's neck as if to distract him from digging farther.

Yugi came up to stand next to Atemu. His attention appeared to be on the game in front of him but slowly Atemu became aware that the boy was edging slowly closer to his side, until their sides were almost hitting each other. He bit his tongue and tried to ignore the teen as he watched the flashy characters of ghosts on the screen, it was all going well until he felt a warm hand slip into his. He glanced down as he felt a smooth folded piece of paper being plastered between his fingers and by the time he pulled his hand up to examine what had happened Yug had already retreated a meter away and was in a deep conversation with Honda about video games. Curiously he turned the paper over in his hands as Yugi paid little attention to Atemu, carrying on as if he had not just smuggled his friend a note.

He mumbled a lame excuse about needing to use the toilet and he left his friends to game. Clutching his hands firmly around the paper as if it was a sacred artefact he searched fanatically around for a toilet sign, once found he pushed his way through to the less busy part of the building and down a narrow hallway.

The first thing Atemu noticed as he entered the public bathroom was the stench of urine and vomit, it did not help also that when he stepped to look at himself in the only intact mirror here was stray hairs stuck to the white walls. He made a quick mental note to try and not touch anything as he eyed his surroundings briefly to make sure none else was in the room before he turned his attention to the folded note.

Flicking the neatly folded sides open he came to reveal a secret note:

_We need to talk!_

Yugi wanted to talk. The note suddenly triggered something inside of Atemu and he pulled out his phone to start searching for Yugi's number. He had remembered he had not given the boy his number, but now might be a useful time to do so. He slipped the note into his trouser pocket and opened a new message window of his phone. He began to write:

_Yugi, this is Atemu. I am in the toilet now we probably have ten minutes, or possibly longer if the others are as hooked on those games as much as they were when I left._

He held his breath, clicked send and then his slipped his phone back inside his pocket. He collapsed in front of the mirror his hands leaning against the bench as he looked at himself in the mirror.

Was the message a sign that Yugi hated him? Was he slightly weirded out by the fact his friend was gay? –no wait, that cannot be the case. His best friend was going out for Kaiba for goodness sake… Why had he worn that face of pure surprise then? You were supposed to be a straight cool boy, none of which would ever dream of falling for the same sex… Yugi did not think of him like that anymore though, they had already established that he was a freeman.

_Click_

Atemu pulled himself black quickly from glaring at his reflection and he straightened up trying to recompose himself as the door bolted open. Yugi came in holding a face of curiosity.

"How did you get my number?" He asked straight off, his eyes darting round as he shut the door behind him and turned to look at Atemu.

"Anzu," Atemu admitted, he did not want to hide anything from Yugi. "She also helped me find out where you lived."

Yugi came up a meter away from Atemu, his expression looking amused. "Did you go on a date with her or something?"

Atemu screwed his face up. "No, why?"

"So you could get the information because surely that's the only way she can be bribed so easily," Yugi said. "I can understand why you wouldn't now. There could be no other reason why a gorgeous man like you would turn down a beautiful woman like her!"

"Maybe because that is not the only reason," Atemu said. He needed to get passed the fact that Yugi had just called him gorgeous. "I do not want to ruin any chance my friend has with the girl he likes."

"What?" Yugi's smile faltered.

Atemu mumbled. "Nothing…"

Yugi drew in closer. "No, tell me."

I just figured you liked Anzu…"

Yugi took a step back confusion swimming through his eyes. "What made you say that?"

"Anzu… might have said something …" He trailed off as he realized what he was about to say next. He cursed under his breath and turned away from Yugi to look at his reflection once more. The cracks in the mirror reflecting back his mood in that moment. He could see his fears radiating off him as clearly as the smell in the air, through every crease in his face.

He felt a light touch and he glanced down from his reflection to find Yugi had come back over and his hand was now rested on his shoulder. His skin tingled underneath the warm gesture of support as he could not take his eyes from the tiny hand.

"Atemu, whatever you want to say you can tell me."

He shivered feeling a wave of emotion hit him like a cold gust of wind. He did not know what he could say next that would make it any easier for the both of them. He had not intended to bring it up so soon, or ever. The message had been so Yugi could find out more about his meeting with Pegasus right? Really there was not much else to say, Yugi had all the facts he needed. Pegasus was no done just yet with Yugi and with one month away to the tournament it means that from now on he would have to be on high alert from himself and Yugi.

The squeeze from Yugi's hand bought him back to reality and Atemu knew he could not leave Yugi hanging now that this conversation had started.

He looked at Yugi. "To answer your question Yugi, would be selfish of me."

"What do you mean?" Yugi questioned looking confused.

"I-" he broke off. "I don't want to ruin what you have with Anzu and your friendship with me."

"If this is about you being sexually attracted to men then I can assure you I am open to all sorts of people!"

"No, that is not it!" Atemu retorted feeling flattered and frustrated all at once.

"Then what?"

"If I tell you can you promise you will not say anything to Anzu?"

"Okay what?"

He took a deep breath in. Fuck it he was going all in.

"Let's start at the beginning," He made himself hold eyes with Yugi as he told his tale. "You asked me who I had a crush on and I was honest in what I said, but I did not get to tell you the truth. Now, Anzu told me that you have had a big crush on her since you were in middle school, and before I say anything more can I ask you: is this true?"

Yugi's face went red at the question Atemu had raised. His hand dropped from Atemu's shoulder as he pulled back to wonder round the small bathroom. He stopped by a sink and leaned against it as he looked back at Atemu.

The reply he gave was strong and without hesitation. "I don't know."

Atemu came over to stand opposite Yugi. "What do you feel then when you look at Anzu?"

Yugi shrugged. "I see a beautiful woman who is a great friend."

"That is what you see," Atemu said. "Close your eyes and imagine she is before you. What do you first feel?"

Yugi shut his eyes and then reopened them moments later. "I feel happy and protected with the knowledge that I will have a group of friends who will always look out for me."

Atemu nodded slowly. "Do you think you love her?"

"I don't know, maybe… I just have never been in the situation where I know if I am or not."

Atemu's voice dropped. "Does she make your feel alive like no other person before? Does she capture your heart in her hands and would you willingly give it to her forever?"

Yugi had been silent for some time musing over his thoughts when he became aware that Atemu had been staring at him expectantly looking slightly fearful. He quickly tucked them away and cleared his throat.

"Yes it is true that I have liked Anzu for some time, but I am not sure of the true nature of the feelings for I have never been very close to anyone other than as a friend," Yugi admitted. "But I do not get what this has to do with you feeling selfish and the question I had asked earlier. Does this have something do to with her? Do you feel that you might be attracted to both men and women because that is normal too…? Do you think that if you asked her out on a date you might be annoying me?"

Sometimes Yugi could be so naive sometimes that it was just adorable.

"Yugi, what part of I am gay do you not understand?" Atemu laughed.

Yugi mentally hit himself and he gave Atemu a weak laugh at his stupidity. "Tell me then."

Yugi was suddenly taken by surprise as Atemu closed the space between them and he took him into a tight hug, pulling his head close to his own he positioned his mouth next to Yugi's right ear. He whispered in a voice so soft that Yugi thought it almost sounded too alien to have come from the deep tones of Atemu's voice.

"I not in the least be concerned about Anzu, but yes I am concerned about you and what you will think of me..." He stopped his breath showing that he was giving himself up entirely as he fought an inner battle within. He spoke the confession as if speaking to a lover.

"Yugi, I think I might be falling for you"

X


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

_He said he needed time to think._

The whole prospect of waiting for someone who may not return one's feelings was daunting. The three weeks since Atemu had revealed his quickly developing feelings for Yugi had felt like a lifetime. He had not spoken much to the boy after that. He knew that his friend would need all the space he could get to think about this. Which was unusual considering his friend was straight. He wished Yugi could just come out and tell him.

He was halfway home on the Thursday of the final day of term. Thinking about the next two weeks ahead and how much fund he would not be having being stuck at home. It was beyond him why students were not allowed jobs. His mind began to wonder back to the phone call he had had with his father and he mentally counted eight days until their arrival in Domino.

"Fuck coming in on the last day of term," Bakura said, spitting into the sidewalk as he walked casually beside Atemu.

Atemu gave his friend a glance, finding himself glad that they had reverted back to their old selves in the past week. Bakura had started chatting to him about cooking of all things and had decided he was going to go to a class on Sunday night. Atemu had teased him lightly about it, but he decided against bringing up the fact that Ryou also went to cooking classes on Sunday nights. It was likely Bakura already knew.

"I have notice that you have not been with the Yugi kid lately."

Atemu's body titled sideward back to his friend, giving him a look of surprise. "And your point is?"

Bakura smirked. "I was just curious to know if that means your little pursuits for love have been rejected."

"I am giving him space to think about what he wants," Atemu said.

"Why Atemu aren't you such the gentleman!"

Atemu rolled his eyes at his friends teasing remarks. "Are you trying to win over Ryou by showing him some of your non-existent skills for cooking?"

Bakura shook his head at Atemu, pouting. "I said nothing of the sort!"

"Then stop caring for my love life, it really doesn't suit you."

Up the road a few metres away a scene before them stopped them in their pointless banter. It appeared Pegasus had decided to amerge from his throne room and was talking straight towards them.

"Did I tell you about the conversation I had with Pegasus?"

Bakura looked at Atemu with a raised eyebrow. "What conversation?"

Atemu waved him quiet. "Keep quiet and I will explain everything."

Pegasus came into their proximity and he stood confidently before them. Hands deep into his pockets as his eyes fluttered round bringing in their appearance before they settled on Atemu's face.

"Two and a half weeks," Pegasus said. "18 days exactly until my Duel Monsters tournament and when I reclaim by glorious title."

Bakura drew some liquid up from his throat and he leaned over to spit on the teen's polished leather shoe. Satisfied Bakura drew back, folding his arms and smirking at the false king.

Pegasus glanced down at his shoe, grimaced slightly, before darting back to Atemu. "If you could teach your pet to not dribble over people it would be much appreciated."

"Bakura only bites people who I don't like," Atemu said. "Think of it as a warm welcoming."

The teen rolled his eyes. "I hope you have been taking my warning into careful consideration."

"Of course, anything which threatens the safety of my friends will not be easily forgotten."

"Then tell me, what have you chosen?"

Atemu sighed. "I have chosen Yugi. Do what you want with your information."

"I can assure you Atemu that it is exactly what I plan to do."

Pegasus made the indication to move and he slid passed the pair of them as he continued along the path. He did not turn back at all as Atemu and Bakura watched him become smaller in the distance.

"Will you explain to me now Atemu what this is all about?" Bakura asked.

Atemu nodded. "Yes. I will tell you everything."

X

"Hey, Atemu!"

Atemu spun around from doing stenches against the wall, expecting to see Ryou by the high pitch of their voice, but it was Yugi instead. He nearly fell off balance from the shock and as he was steadying himself the teen began to fiddle with his baggy t-shirt.

"Want to be partners for today?" Yugi asked.

As he took a few paces towards Yugi he nodded and nearly tumbled over his own feet when he saw the look of excitement he received in return.

"I just thought this would be a great time to talk."

Atemu's eyes bulged. "During gym class, talk, when everyone around can hear us?"

Yugi chuckled. "No not about that, silly."

_Was he really that silly to think Yugi was that insensitive?_

"I'm sorry I have just had a hard couple of days," Atemu said. "I am really not thinking straight."

As Yugi's laughs subsided they shared a brief share of eye connections before Yugi quickly got on to what he wanted to talk about. "I think I might enter the tournament with Jou after all."

"Really?"

"It will be fun. Also, if we win we will have something else to rub in Pegasus' face."

"Like the one time you bet him in the middle school chess championship?"

"Maybe," Yugi said, his attention drifting over to the gathering class mates. "I was just thinking it would be a good way to make his plan get thrown right back in his face!"

"You plan on claiming his title as king as some sort of revenge stunt?"

Yugi shook his head, his smile widening and his eyes sparkling as he shot back excitedly. "Not me, you."

Atemu's mouth fell open –and he was glad he was near a wall- for he collapsed against his locker shaking his head. Was Yugi _crazy_? He had only been playing Duel Monsters for less than a month, he could not become that skilled in two weeks. He would get creamed in his first duel before he had even had the chance to face Pegasus… The glow in Yugi's eyes seemed to think otherwise as he placed his bag on the ground and sat down beside he fallen teen, leaning against the adjacent locker.

"What do you think?'

Atemu laughed breathlessly and he turned to give his friend an astonished look. "I think you are crazy."

Yugi pushed his friend playfully. "Don't be so hard on yourself, you will be great!"

"You speak as if I have said yes," Atemu cited. "Why me?"

"Just think it will be a nice way to get back at him for all that he has done," Yugi countered, his face transformed into that of a pouting child. "Pretty please?"

Atemu moaned, he knew he could not resist such an adorable face and he reluctantly nodded before pulling himself up to his feet. Yugi followed suit, jumping up effortlessly like a jack-in-the-box, his face plastered with a broad toothy grin.

"You will need a coach as well," Yugi declared, "First training session at mine after school!"

Before Atemu could protest the boy was already pulling him by the hand over to the gathering class as the teacher called for them together round.

"So," Yugi said as he bounced the basketball between his legs. "I have just been wondering what made you one of Pegasus' goons."

Atemu intercepted the ball from Yugi with minimal effort and he held it with both hands as he thought of all the ways Yugi could have ended up on that subject.

"I was blackmailed," He said, dropping the ball down and bouncing it with one hand.

After the third or fourth bonce the ball lost momentum and darted off to the side. Yugi managed to catch it in time, but his attention was now fully focused on Atemu. "How did he do that?"

Atemu shrugged as he thought back. "I guess I was soo scared of what coming out as gay would do too much image that I naturally got sucked into his mind games. It did not take him long to do a bit of digging into my past before he hand all the ammo he needed to make me his new weapon. My father is a highly unpredictable man who dominated Egyptian politics and business. He made a generous donation about ten years ago to help aid anti-gay campaigns in Egypt so you can imagine at the time as I was I was very young that I became terrified. I had known I was gay for as long as I can remember and knowing that my father was one of those against my kind I was apprehensive at coming out. I was scared he would hate me, scared that he would abandon me. Pegasus could read those fears within me and so it was easy for him to push me round like my father also did."

"He is threatening to tell your father that his only son is gay?"

Atemu nodded grimly. He looked away from a moment, looking over at Jou and Honda trying to aim the ball from half way across the court into the hoop. "I do not care so much about that anymore. I can see now that my father cannot rule my life. I am my own person with my own opportunities to mould life the way I want it to be."

"What has changed?"

Atemu's eyes looked up at Yugi and a small smile formed. "I met you."

X

Ryou was quiet. Now this was not abnormal for him, but it had been a lot more frequent over the past week. His friend had rejected move invitations and arcade outings and it was getting to the point where Yugi was genuinely worried.

Yugi had stopped the lone boy as he entered the cafeteria with Atemu. They had quickly grabbed their lunch before Yugi dared look away from Ryou for a moment to look back at Atemu.

"I think Ryou might need someone to talk to," Yugi said.

Atemu nodded. "I understand, little one."

Yugi flashed him a thankful smile before he departed from Atemu and headed over to his friend.

"Hey Ryou," Yugi greeted as he sat down opposite the boy at the start of lunch that Final Friday.

Ryou had been sitting by himself in the cafeteria as he chewed away at a single bowl of rice. This also happened to be one of those rare occasions when it was not snowing or raining and so half their friends had already headed outside with their lunch.

The white-haired teen looked up in surprise and his face fell into a bright smile. "Yugi, what can I do for you?"

Yugi put on a face of innocence and shrugged. "Do I have to have a reason to see my friend?"

Ryou shook his head and then returned to his food. Yugi shifted from side-to-side on his feet as he waited for his friend to finish to say anything, or give him some sign as to what was wrong with him. Yugi quickly figured out that this was useless and he took a slow breath in and out.

"Ryou," Yugi said. "You know you can trust me.

Ryou's face fell, revealing his true inner feelings and as he spoke his voice shook. "What do you want to say?"

Yugi knew he had to come clean. "I am worried about you. You have been quiet."

Ryou's eyes bulged and his hands began to twitch at his sides. "There's nothing wrong."

"Bullshit," Yugi said, wishing he could take away such a strong word back.

Ryou's eyes fell to his food, his hand limply holding his utensils as he dropped his face. "Sometimes I can help thinking that it is unfair that life offers you Atemu, the perfect gentleman if you think about it. And then there is me, lonely little English boy with no family left to care about him who gets stuck with Bakura of all people…"

"Wait, hang on a minute," Yugi said. "Are you sad because I have been spending more time with Atemu?"

Ryou shrugged and made no attempt to lift his head as he spoke into his rice. "I do not have any worries about you being happy with Atemu. I just find myself comparing out two situations and I wonder how I ended up with the bad deal."

Yugi moved over to Ryou side and put an arm around the boy's shoulders. "Are you telling me that there is something going on with you and Bakura?"

Ryou's head shot up, his blood shot eyes looking at Yugi. "I have no idea."

An idea suddenly sprung into Yugi's head and he pulled his cell phone out whilst also holding on protectively to Ryou. His friend sniffed and eyed him curiously as he watched him begin to send a message to Atemu. "If there is anyone that can get into Bakura's mind that would be Atemu."

"Are you going to ask him to stalk Bakura?"

"No."

"Bakura will be annoyed at me then and we have recently come to some mutual agreement to stop annoying each other."

Yugi ignored his friends pointless worrying as he hit send on his phone.

X

Atemu felt his phone vibrate in his jacket pocket and he reached down into it as he leaned against the school fence watching his friends Bakura and Mariku as they ran around giggling between puffs of smoke. He was glad that he found them when he did otherwise he would have had to find an excuse to bail them out of a police cell. And that was bad enough the first time.

With his phone out of his pocket he took his eyes from the pair for a moment to glance down at his screen. He was glad to see it was no one else other than Yugi that had text him. His father had said he would text when he had flights organised to come visit, and if Atemu had the power over such a thing they would never come. His father was a controlling git, and this trip was not just to see his son it was for business and the possibility to trying to convince his son to marry a girl already hand-picked. A marriage to strengthen business partners as well as to make sure his son his going to have a secure place to take over the family business when the time came.

Atemu opened the message from Yugi asking him to do a bit of investigation work into Bakura and he smirked as an idea came into his head. He quickly opened a new message and began to write:

_Sure, I will be happy to look into Bakura and Ryou's friendship, but my services come with a price. You see I have been eagerly waiting for you reply on my confession of sorts, and you see the only way to please me will be for you to accept a date from me._

_There will be no strings attached, just a nice night at a restaurant, or a home-cooked dinner at mine. From there if you decide that you do not want anything but to be good friends with me I will accept your decision, I just want a chance._

He sent the message before he could edit it down. Was he being slightly too bold? He wanted to push them both along, he was getting tired of waiting for something to happen.

Atemu pushed himself forward from the fence and he headed over to his friends.

"Bakura!" He shouted, the wolf and his dancing partner looked up from their dazed states.

"What?"

Atemu pointed directly at him his face growing with amusement, he had been waiting for so long to have such a hold on Bakura and this was just too perfect to miss. "I hear you have been hanging out with Ryou."

Bakura shrugged not sure what the big deal was. "Yeah?"

"I want to know if you have feelings for him," Atemu explained indicating to his phone. "Research for Yugi."

Bakura's eyes narrowed. "Is this so you can get into the boy's pants?"

Atemu's face went red and even redder when he felt his phone vibrate. Curse Yugi's immaculate timing. He ignored it as he sent a retort back at Bakura's accusation. "No we are just concerned that _if _you were to have feelings then you told each other rather than ripping each her apart."

"Like I said," Bakura smirked as he dropped Mariku's hands, he was just smart for his own good. He did not take the bait. "You normally don't care what I do with people so my only thought is that you just be getting sex for this information."

Atemu laughed before he could stop himself and he reached down to the ground to grab some bark from the garden he threw it playfully in the boy's direction. "Shut up!"

Bakura shook his head laughing and he began to run shouting more torments about Yugi which had Atemu running after him with a fist full of bark. Marik joined in and after a short game of cat and mouse he tackled Bakura to the ground to allow Atemu his chance at revenge.

With a mouth full of bark Bakura scrambled to his feet and his spat it out in all directions. The he stumbled over to a knee-high tree to lean against it. He looked over at his laughing friends and gave them a glare before he too ended up joining in.

Mariku gave Atemu a triumphant high-five. "That's one to the Yami!"

When they had all calmed down and were walking back to Mariku's flat Atemu fell behind the chatting pair and he glanced down at his phone and to his surprise he did not see Yugi's name pop up on the screen, but that of his own father.

_Son, flight will be arriving tomorrow night in Domino, will be there for a week. I will call you before the plane goes to explain further. Your mother cannot wait to see you, we have a surprise for you that we think you will be most pleased about. We will get a limo to our apartment from the airport, see you then._

Atemu deleted the messaged and cursed loudly as he slammed the phone into his pocket. Why now? Why ever? Can't his parents let him get along with his life without making it shittier, he only hoped that the surprise wasn't another one of those poor rich man's brides…

So it was settled. His parents were arriving a week earlier than secluded and he had not even begun to prepare for their arrival. He stopped in a panic and he quickly attracted Bakura and Marik's attention.

"What?" Atemu snapped.

"Your 'shit' was so loud that we figured something must be wrong," Mariku explained.

Atemu balled his hands into fists and he nodded slowly. "That would be an understatement."

"What's wrong?"

"Father has text me," He said, "He said that he and mother would be coming to Japan tomorrow for a week. He called me three weeks ago and I ended up hanging up on him… and he seems to have not taken that as a sign that I do not want him in my life!"

"What's so bad about your parents?" Mariku asked curiously.

"For one, every time I get a visit from them they forget I do not like arranged marriages, or women for that matter, "Atemu spat.

Mariku gave his friend a look of sympathy before he glanced over his shoulder to see what could be done about a saddened friend, a smile formed on his narrow face. "Let's go see a movie, then you can forget for tonight how much your life sucks."

Atemu laughed sarcastically, he wished he did not need handle Mariku's forward nature tonight. He was a great friend, and was caring when he needed to be, but sometimes it just got on his nerves.

"Thanks Mariku…"

"No problem," The oblivious teen replied. "I will shout us all."

Bakura was watching Atemu with careful eyes as they walked in sync, he did not utter a single word, Atemu could feel his friend was concerned for him and he was even more grateful when he did not bring it up.

X

Yugi text him an hour and half into the movie which was enough to brighten Atemu's mood. A smiled curved into his face as he saw the screen light up with the boy's name.

_I suppose I don't have a choice? Well I guess I will say okay because you had kindly accepted my request… But seriously I am going to kill you when I see you next! You really do want to go on a date with me don't you? To be honest you are the first person that has ever asked me… But again did you seriously just ask me on a date? Even if I did not just ask you to help me with Ryou and Bakura I would have still said yes because It would have been rude to say no otherwise… Thank you for your help. Talk some more on Monday and you can tell me how it goes!_

He had seen too many action movies anyway.

He got up from his seat, quietly apologising to people as he passed them. He excused himself from the theatre with an excuse to use the toilet. He locked himself inside a cubicle, and dropping the seat down to sit on it, he then pulled out his phone.

_Yugi, can I call you?_

Yugi replied a minute later saying he was just lying on his bed reading, and as long as he wasn't too long with the call he would be free to call him. Atemu's stomach did a summersault and he wasted no time in typing in Yugi's number and held the phone up to his ear. He waited a single beep before the phone picked up.

"Hello," Yugi greeted.

"Hey!" Atemu replied cheerfully for just hearing the sound of the boy's voice.

There was the sound of movements as the phone was brushed up against something before Yugi spoke again. "You found something about our little friends?"

"W-W-What… oh, Yes," Atemu mumbled. "It does seem that something is up with those two, Bakura seemed quite reluctant so say much."

"Thank you!" Yugi laughed as the truth was revealed. "I don't know why Ryou was so precious about it when I asked him… I am surprised that Bakura was more open about it."

"I have known Bakura for my whole life," Atemu explained. "He is not very open about anything, but when you get to know his reactions answers become clear."

"Has he said anything else?"

"Hmm, not really. I think it is best if we leave the two to sort out their relationship themselves now, we now know their secret so we shouldn't tease them too much more."

"Bakura does it to you enough!"

"True, but I understand that sometimes enough is enough."

"So… why did you want to call me?" Yugi asked causally. "Was it to hear the sound of my _sexy _voice?'

_Did Yugi just flirt? Atemu did not know that was even part of that boy's vocabulary._

Atemu was glad Yugi could not see him as his face felt like a red pepper. "No! I have just had a rough day."

Yugi's voice turned more serious. "What happened?"

Atemu shrugged before he realised how stupid he was. "My father has text me."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"It is if you father is an arsehole!"

"What did he say?"

"He is visiting Domino for the week, so it means he will be expecting me to spend time with him, likely so he can make me marry a pretty girl from Egypt. If anyone is in a desperate need of a business deal and that's the best way to do it!"

"I wonder how you are going to break the news to him that you are gay."

Atemu found himself laughing nervously. "I was not planning on it."

"You told me yourself that you want to break your silence."

"It is not that," Atemu said. "My father's views on gay men or women is that it is like a phase that will pass overtime. Sort of like fashion trends. The only way I would be able to fully show that I am gay is if he found be in bed with another boy, but then again that would probably make him determined to send me back to Egypt to get settled down, maybe with some counselling…"

"If you would like somewhere to hide for the week you are welcome to stay on our couch."

"Thank you for the offer Yugi, but I don't want to drag you into this."

"We are friends now so there's no getting rid of me, even with parents like yours!"

Atemu's voice softened. "My mother would like you."

"Is she anything like your father?" Yugi asked.

"She grew up in Japan and met my father in Tokyo. She was a librarian with a degree in history and he was a business man, the wealthiest in Egypt. They act and talk like total opposites, but they were drawn to each other for many unknown reasons."

"Your father must not be too bad if he fell for someone like her."

Atemu laughed as he wished he could believe what Yugi was saying. "I wish you were right on that one Yugi, but unfortunately power does certain things to men."

There was a long pause on Yugi's end before there was voice again. "Do you fear that you are slowly becoming him?"

Atemu pondered on the question for some time before he replied. "I used to not fear the prospect I had accepted it and wore it like armour knowing that I would one day be one of the most powerful men in Egypt. As I explained to you that I was scared of my father and my own abilities so I just followed him round. It seemed the only thing I never accepted to back down from was my own sexuality. I have never given into the pressures of being gay, although I might have tried to hide it. I sometimes don't know who I am anymore now that my whole outlook on life has change in just a few months."

He held his breath to wait for Yugi's reply as he glanced down at the phone and realised he had been in the bathroom for almost half an hour and it was likely the movie had been over for at least ten of those. He figured Bakura and Marik would have left thinking he had gone home to have a sulk.

"You are Atemu."

"What?'

"That is the sort of man you are," Yugi said, "and you may see a broken man who has lost his path. You need to remember that no one is perfect, Atemu, and all the imperfections make you who you are."

X


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

If he had been in the same room as Yugi in that moment he probably would have kissed him. Not just an innocent peck on the check, not a light touch to the lips, but a full-on French style kiss. Tongues would have been locked together in a passionate crusade as mouths opened to devourer one another. Hands would have wrapped around their respected parties as they desperately tried to get as close to each other. Unfortunately this was real life and Atemu was in a locked cubical with a phone to his ear and Yugi was on the other side of Domino.

"Yugi," He whispered. "I think I might take you up on your offer."

X

His father had called him at ten to six the following day to say it looked like their arrival time was being pushed back to seven thirty at this stage so they would just meet him at dinner. He breathed a sigh of relief as he hung up to check that the flat looked tidy enough to present to his parents, his mother could be a real pain sometimes when it came to keeping his personal space clean.

Bakura came into the living area with a bag of clothes hanging over his shoulder by one hand. Atemu looked up from his cell phone and gave his friend a curious smile. "Are you heading off now?"

Bakura nodded as he stopped to eye Atemu's strange expression. "Has your parents arrived early?"

"No, thank the gods," Atemu said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Father called me to tell me they are going to a couple of hours delayed so that is extra time where I do not have to make pleasant conversation."

Bakura raised his free hand into a point, sending Atemu a smirk. "And pretending to be straight, don't forget that!"

Atemu rolled his eyes, reaching over the end of the couch just in front of him to grab a pillow and throw it as his friend. Bakura fended it off with his bag using the swinging motion like a bat and sending it catapulting back at his friend.

After narrowly avoiding the hit Atemu through fits of laughter swung his legs over the couch and landed in it's soft surface. His eyes traveled back to Bakura.

"It don't have to go anyway you know," Atemu said. "I am hoping to avoid having home visits this time around."

"I know you plan to not be here half the time either," Bakura said, he indicated to Atemu's phone. "I may or may not have over heard a conversation briefly which said something about you staying at Yugi's some point."

Atemu nodded. "That is correct. Yugi suggested it as we are thinking of entering the Duel Monsters tournament against Pegasus."

"Aren't you are a shit games player?"

"Apparently I am not so bad," Atemu said, as he dropped his head over the edge of the couch to look at the ceiling, his thoughts quickly turning to Yugi. "Yugi has been training me."

Bakura observed his friend, titling his head to one side. "Have fun."

Atemu waved blindly in the direction of his friend as he proceeded to close his eyes. He did not hear the door shut as it was by this time he had fallen asleep.

X

Atemu was all suited up in a tight tuxedo that had been gathering dust in his wardrobe for 12 months and had taken him almost an hour to iron it down so it was half decent. He had arrived early to the venue and to his surprise he saw many of his parent's servants standing outside.

As Atemu approached one of the butlers a whole line of them proceeded to bow. "Master Atemu, if you will please come this way."

With a directional open handed gesture a single man broke off from the group and began to lead Atemu passed security and into the main hall of the restaurant. The room made Atemu feel like he had taken a step back in time for the decoration was inspired by Victorian dinner halls. Chandeliers hung over a gilded ceiling, large exotic plants sat in the corners of the room and rounded oak tables were evenly spaces out in the center. Atemu traveled through a bustle of activity as he observed couples lounging between means as they watched a live jazz singer on stage and talked casually with each other.

The butler took him down a narrow corridor and into a private room which looked just as grand as the public one. The only thing that was more apparent was the walls were completely covered in gold. It did not matter if it was no fake –although it probably wasn't- it still had the desired effect to wow whoever entered it. Atemu was not too impressed because he had grown up in spaces like this. His parents were very wealthy people.

His parents were already seated, a bottle of wine on the table half-devoured as they sipped away at their glasses and laughed. The table was also more impressive than any of the ones Atemu had passed earlier, it was clearly an expensive brand of wood which sparkled under the light of the candles on the table and the ceiling.

As Atemu approached the table his father looked up from his wife and his face bloomed into a proud fatherly smile. He put his glass down and stood up, pushing he chair back with the backs of his legs he walked over with open arms to pull his son into a hug. His strength was evident in the nature of his crushing hug, and Atemu found himself gasping when he pulled back.

He was not accustom to his father being so straight forward. Let alone showing love to his son.

Aknamkanon did not seem like a very powerful man if one met him in person. His short stature compared to most big CEOs made him look like a puppet who was controlled by a group of men in his own corporation, but that would be the assumption you would make if you had never known a thing about the man. He was a legend in the business world, a man who had inherited a major influential part of Egyptian politics and business. He was Atemu's father and even when he stood an inch shorter than his son he still could scare him with his powerful baritone voice, which revealed that of Atemu's.

"How was the trip?' Atemu asked as he took a seat at the table.

His mother, also known as Manu, smiled lovingly at her son as he spoke. She wore her thick black hair up in a bun and was dressed in an elegant Japanese kimono.

"It was long, but it was worth it to see my son," she gooed over Atemu, her eyes examining him. "You have grown much since we last saw you Atemu."

Atemu went slightly red and he looked down at the white table cloth in front of him. Did she really have to talk like that?

"Your hair has grown," She continued, reaching sideways to touch the ends. "You need a stylist."

Atemu held up his hands, a natural reaction for someone practiced in karate-ka, and shook his head vigorously. "No I do not!"

Manu laughed and dropped her hand away and reclaimed her wine as she sat back in her chair taking a sip of her wine. Her attention returned to her husband. "What do you think love?"

Aknamkanon shrugged, as he placed his glass down and examined his son.

"The suit could do with a bit of work, and the hair... I am not a fan of the colours. I guess that it is some strange Japanese custom he has picked up from his friends."

"He has your chin," Manu pointed out lovingly ignoring the fact her husband had insulted her Japanese routes.

"And your eyes," Aknamkanon flirted back as her bodies leaned in closer to each other, their eyes locked on.

Atemu sighed awkwardly, they were treating him like a child, and could not they for once just let him make up his own mind on his choices of fashion? What made it worse was that the both of them never reserved their private selves for when they were not in the same room as their son, anyone else and his father showed no signs of affection to anyone.

A waiter came over to the table to take everyone's order's which a relief was for Atemu as it gave him something else to focus on.

"I will have an entrée of tuna sushi," Manu ordered. "What do you want son?"

Atemu shrugged. "Anything."

"Make that two tuna sushi, and can I have an Arabic-styled white rice, please?" Aknamkanon said.

The waiter wrote down the orders vigorously and then rushed off out of the room, leaving them to their own devices. It seemed the restaurant was on alert tonight to impress their special guests.

Atemu's parents asked him about school and where he thought of going for university at the end of next year. Atemu said he was still hoping to get into an American university to study languages and history, he had got a disapproving look from his father at that. From there his mother went into a longer lecture about trying to get good marks and just because she was on the other side of the world did not mean he should slack off at school.

Taking a sip of her wine Manu looked up at her son. "So Atemu is there anyone special in your life?"

Atemu's eyes became wide as he almost choked on his meal, he spat the rice back onto his plate as he eyed his mother with annoyance. He knew that they were going to bring up the subject, why else would they bother to come see their son otherwise? He had reached the time in his life were it was traditional for an Egyptian man to start looking for their life long partner, or at least a relationship to show their father they were not slacking off.

He did not have much time to compose a brilliant answer so he just used what came to the top of his head first. He put on a fake loved-up smile. "Now that you ask, yes I do."

"When do you get to meet this special someone?' Manu asked.

His father, who had been vaguely listening to the conversation, suddenly looked alert as his back tensed and he looked up from his meal to regard his son with much interest.

Atemu quickly forced another chunk of meat into his mouth and tipped his head from side to side to show his family he wanted to reply, but needed to finish eating first. Once swallowed he had thought up his next reply.

"They are very busy you see," He lied, trying to sound as enthusiastic as he could, "They are very serious about their studies so I do not get to spend time with them except during school, but even then it can be hard, because he is so busy."

Aknamkanon suddenly spoke, his voice sending chills down Atemu's spine by the hard edge in his voice and any more lies Atemu had were almost suddenly gone. "He?"

Atemu's dropped everything that he was holding and he shook his head. "She, I meant she!"

He suddenly wished he could take his own stupidity back.

The look his father gave him, however, removed any chances of taking it back for his face blossomed into an excited smile, and his cold eyes became very warm. He turned to his wife and they shared a look of renewed hope, as if before now there had been something they had resented about their son but now they had something to look forward to now. Was this why they had been so hard on their son for all those years? Because they had lost hope in him finding someone? Atemu's heart sank as he realized his fatal mistake. They were not going to leave him alone until they met this significant other.

"Think about it love!" Aknamkanon said is a soapy voice only reserved for his wife. "We are going to be grandparents!"

Atemu spent the rest of the evening in silence and inner turmoil. He had no way he was getting out of this mess. He could have just easily apologised and told them that it was not a girl, but really a guy, but then he would have given them false hope and his father would be even more against the idea of having a gay son. So he said nothing more, and let the night run its course, and when he returned home to his empty flat that night he found himself picking up his cell phone and calling the only sensible person who could help.

"Yugi, I have made a terrible mistake."

X

"I can't believe you told your parents that you were dating a girl!" Yugi exclaimed as he held open the door to let Atemu into the game shop.

Atemu looked like a mess, apart from the fact that he also looked stunning in a tailored tux. Yugi could not say he looked any good on the other hand with his grubby pyjamas.

"I panicked," Atemu explained sounding stressed as he dropped the bag to rub his face.

Yugi locked the door behind him and turned to Atemu. "And you could have said anything else, and you decided to go with girl?"

Yugi chuckled as he saw the expression on Atemu's face, confirming how stupid he was. Atemu threw his hands up in the air and he decided to ignore his friend's giggles as his grip tightened around his bag strap, and he glanced around.

"So where can I sleep?"

"Grandpa has gone to bed early tonight, as we did not expect you to stay tonight, so we don't have any bedding out; however, we have a comfy couch… or we could create a quick make shift bed with some pillows on the floor of my room…"

"A nest…?"

Yugi laughed. "Yeah, if you want!"

"It feels like I am a child all over again!"

The two giggled up the stairs and quietened down once they passed Grandpa's room. Yugi pointed out the main landmarks of the house before placing Atemu's bags in his room. They collected a hand-full of pillows together in a pile. They became little kids as they arranged the pillows in a nest-like fashion.

"I am just going to get some blankets so you don't freeze to death," Yugi said.

Atemu admired his arrangement of pillows, and then back at Yugi. "I would not need blankets if I had your warmth."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "What it, or it is to the couch it you!"

He disappeared from the room and Atemu decided it was about the right time to prepare for bed. He laughed at the situation he had found himself in. The conclusion of his first meal with his parents had been a nightmare, but the prospect of spending the night in Yugi's room was surreal. He had imagined the only time he might have taken his cloth off in Yugi's room was if they were about to have sex. In his dreams that was what usually happened.

_Now stop thinking such things otherwise you are going to embarrass yourself in front of Yugi._

As he removed his suit jacket and shirt he allowed himself a nosey peep around the boy's room, noting the gaming posters, a bookshelf full of old video games and consoles stacked up on top of one another, and in the corner an old prehistoric TV from the early 90s. Yugi was a fairly neat individual, his floor was spotless, bar the occasional bit of fluff or screwed up piece of paper. It was seemed to suit the boy's personality in all ways, it was like he had stepped into a visual reconstruction of his own mind.

Atemu slipped off his trousers and stuffed them carelessly into his bag along with his tie and suit jacket. He decided he would stick with his boxer briefs that he had been currently wearing.

X

Yugi came in a moment later carrying blankets, he stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened when he saw Atemu standing before him in barely anything but his underwear. It did not help also that His body looked extremely good de-clothed, his chest stomach was fully ripped and his legs were long and toned nicely. Yugi ran his eyes up their length and as he reached the seam of the briefs he blushed and made a detour to Atemu's face, he should probably stick to that as it was safer for both of them.

"Those are mine?" Atemu asked sounding unfazed by the fact he was exposed to Yugi.

Yugi swallowed before giving him a quick nod and he threw them down on the nest. Atemu wasted no time in snuggling down into the mass of pillows and blankets, making happy sounds as he relaxed into the soft materials.

"I feel like I could sleep for the rest of my life," Atemu murmured as he shut his eyes.

"You will try any excuse not to talk to your parent after this night," Yugi teased as he climbed into his bed after switching the light off. A dimmer light above his bed came on a few moments later.

"Don't remind me!"

"Fine, I won't," Yugi promised reaching to his bedside table and grabbing a book to read.

They lay in silence for a while, Atemu listening to the peaceful sounds of a sleeping house, the city outside and the soft sounds of Yugi breathing and turning pages. Atemu opened his eyes when he realised he would never sleep with the teen he had a giant crush on just meters away. He sighed and sat up in his nest.

"Yugi."

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember that deal we made yesterday?"

Yugi's eyes squinted and his brow knotted together. "Yeah…"

"How you said you would go on a date with me."

It took Yugi several seconds before his mind connected the dots and he dropped his book in the covers. "NO!"

"You did promise!"

"I said, No!"

"Pretty please!"

"Not out with your parents at some bar dressed up as a girl, pretending to be completely head over heels in love with you and desperate to want to have your baby!"

"I didn't say anything about dressing up as a girl and having a baby, but whatever floats your boat…"

Atemu was smacked over the back of the head with a pillow and he turned around laughing as he grabbed a pillow from the bundle to return a smack back to the guilty party. The room turned into a horrible mess of thrown pillows and blankets as Atemu jumped around running to avoid Yugi who had arisen from his bed to follow suit. Laughing and yelping as they played around until Atemu yawned surrendering himself to Yugi, he allowed the boy the last hit before they returned to their beds.

Too tired to read any longer Yugi replaced his book mark and placed it back on his bedside table. He suppressed a yawn as he rearranged his pillows before sinking down into the warmth of his covers. He switched the light out bidding Atemu good night.

"So I win?" Atemu said finally.

"Shut up and we can organise something tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Atemu said shutting his eyes.

He would never get sick of this.

X


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

Ryou could not quite believe it himself. He surely did not know what his friends should say when they eventually found out. It was not the fact he was gay, which would not such a worry as Jou was as gay as a man could get. It was the fact he was falling for his worst enemy.

He could have said it had all started about three weeks ago, not too much longer after he had told himself he would not leave detention again with Bakura. He had forgotten his gym uniform that day as an excuse to get out of dodge-ball, he knew that he would be the first ones to be picked on as he had no physical body mass what so ever.

So he was sitting on the hard wooden bench twiddling his thumbs as he counted down the moments until the period ended. He found nothing better to do then watching the baled bodied boys in his class preform skillful acts with the ball. He felt no desire to join them as he shared a small satisfied smile with himself as he glanced a collection of girls looking terrified.

He leaned back, stretching his legs and arms, he maneuvered one of his hands into his trouser pocket, checking that the teacher was occupied with his class, he pulled his phone out to sneak a glimpse at the time.

He phone told him two things, one that five minutes had barely past since he had last checked the time, and secondly that someone was trying to tell him something.

There was a text from an unknown number that simply read:

_Avoid the cafeteria at lunch today._

Strange.

Ryou slipped the phone quickly into his pocket as the teacher looked his way giving him a look a disapproval before turning back to the game. Ryou did not feel the need to glance at his phone again, he did not want to anger any of his teachers any more than he already had.

The message was quickly forgotten. He thought nothing of the strange number and the warning it held. He was lucky that day that he did not find the need to go to that place.

He heard the next day that a big fight had broken out between Vivian Wong and a boy in Ryou's science class. He could not help, but wander if he had gone there that day would that have happened to him. It was from then on he began to wonder who the mysterious texter was.

One week later he found himself in a similar situation when he was late to school. Running almost five kilometers to get to school as he missed the bus. He was just finding his seat at the back of his class, keeping his head down so he could avoid the intense stares from his class, when he felt his phone vibrate.

He felt himself relax as he figured it was just Yugi checking up on him. He felt slightly guilty that he had not texted him to tell him that he had missed his bus. Once settled down he pulled out his phone.

_Ryou, stay inside at lunch._

It was the same unknown number. It felt like someone was watching over him, like a guardian angel who always had his back. He wished he knew who it was so it did not feel like he had a stalker following him round. He wanted to thank them whoever they were.

Ryou punched in a quick text to ask them who they were. He never go a single reply.

It was always the same type of text. One of warning followed by an accident a day later in the exact place the text bought up.

It continued in a more increasing manner and by the last week of the term before the holidays he got what he had been hoping for.

He had sent the unknown number a message on the Sunday night. He had finally decided that he needed to know who this person was or he was going to start asking questions to everyone else, he was going crazy with curiosity.

_I know who you are._

The message was a test. A lie in the hopes that whoever was behind the number would come out and remove their mask. He had never tried it before and he had no idea what reaction, if any, he would get from it.

_Enlighten me then._

The text was simple, and yet it already got rid of many suspects that Ryou had been thinking about. He had to be smart about his next reply if he wanted to get a response to it.

_You are my friend._

He wanted to sound believable, get the person to fully confessing a key part of evidence so that his true identity would be revealed.

_I would hardly call myself that. I am more of a source from the big kids, wouldn't you think so?_

He had it. He did not know anyone else as self-indulged than the texter right now. A person who thinks so highly of themselves that they would not call someone like Ryou a friend as it would tarnish their image. Someone who secretly wishes they could escape that lifestyle entirely.

_Why are you trying to wrap me in cotton wool?_

_Why does it matter runt? You probably have no idea of who I am!_

Ryou only knew one other man who would dare insult him in such a way that sounded also friendly and more teasing than horrible. This man was also protecting him from getting beaten up and so he took that into account when he came to the final conclusion who it was. He was confused at how he had got his number, it was probably Yugi, but he was not going to ask.

_Bakura_

He got not reply from that.

Monday, first period, he went right over to Bakura as he took a seat down at the back of the class and he plonked his bag right next to the boy and took and seat next to him.

Bakura looked annoyed more than alarmed that someone dared take the free seat normally reserved for his bag beside him.

Ryou held his eye-contact and waited patiently for Bakura to return his own.

"Have you been stalking me?"

Bakura's face screwed up. "I do not stalk. I merely observe."

"Why do you text me all the time?"

"No reason, I just overhear things in the shadows," Bakura murmured as he looked away to Ryou, leaning forward into the desk and looking off to the front of the class.

"It is because you are stalker!"

Bakura sent Ryou a fierce glare. "Am not!"

"Are so, if you were not you would have told me who you were!"

"If I am anything at this present moment I would say I am a protector, a friend looking out for someone…" He trailed off, eyes wide in shock at his own words, he snapped back to the front.

Ryou sighed, feeling his face tense up and his narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists turning to his bag. Some times that man annoyed the hell out of him!

After sometime he let his muscles relax and his breathing return to normal. He thought for a moment, sensing that he had not approached the situation as intelligently as he probably should have. He put his pen down and turned back to Bakura.

"I do not think you are stalker," Ryou whispered in defeat. "I just find it slightly strange that you go from insulting me in public, assuring me every time you saw me that you hated me, to sending me messages to protect me."

Bakura head snapped back, an eyebrow raised in surprise.

Ryou swallowed, finding it hard to look at him in the eye and his eyes dropped slightly to Bakura's Adam's apple. He could feel his insides begin to squirm as he imagined applying his lips to the warm surface and experiencing the soft naked flesh. He dropped his eyes lower to the floor, he could not think straight with such a marvelous piece of art sitting right in front of him. "It is nice to know that I have a friend looking out for me."

Ryou lifted his eyes to Bakura and gave him a small smile. Bakura held their gaze for a minute before he returned to his old self, dropping his face into his arms as he leaned into his bag on the desk.

The action was humbling and Ryou in some small way had come to accept it as Bakura's way of saying thank you, or in a better translation, to accept his apology. He found the rest of the day flew by and he looked forward to the unknown numbers next text.

X

"Anzu would be happy to fill in as your not-girlfriend," Yugi said as he put a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"I did think about it, but I just don't like the idea of introducing a girl I am not romantically interested in to my parents," Atemu admitted as he gnawed away at his toast. The sound of Yugi choking on his meal roused him from his own. He raised an eyebrow to the smaller boy across the table before returning back to his breakfast.

Yugi took a sip of orange juice, whipping away the milk explosion from around his mouth as he replied. "She would play it really well."

"If you mean overly obsessive then yeah I would love to!" Atemu exclaimed sarcastically.

"Have you spoken to hear since we had that_ talk_?"

"No," Atemu retorted quickly, giving Yugi a look of slight hurt which quickly became covered up by slightly annoyance. "Why do I need to? She is _your_ friend."

"I think you should, clear the air with her," Yugi said as he stirred the milky remains around his bowl. "I also need to have a talk with her about certain things. We could have a chat with her on Monday!"

"Although I would love to spend the day rubbing it in her face that she was wrong about several things... regretfully I have to spend at least some time with my parents whilst they are here."

"Too bad," Yugi teased as he finished his bowl and went to rinse it out in the sink.

"What?" Atemu asked his attention grabbed in that instant.

Yugi smirked and ignored the boy's questioning as he put the dishes in the dishwasher. He spun around to lean against the bench for that single moment, with a broad self-satisfied smile on his face. "I guess I will have to have fun all by myself!"

"What do you mean?" Atemu scrunched his face up in confusion. "What are you planning on doing tomorrow?"

Yugi pushed himself from the bench and in long confident strides was standing beside Atemu in an instant. His eyes sparkled his mischief as he leaned in close to Atemu, his lips coming so close to his ear that he would almost nibble it.

The teen shivered at the sensation of Yugi's breathe so close to his bare skin that he had to close his eyes just so he could concentrate on his meal.

"Say hello to you parents for me."

Yugi pulled back as quickly as it took for Atemu to process what the body had even said. Atemu dropped his toast as his eyes widened and he rose to his feet just as Yugi escaped the kitchen. He sighed in frustration and returned his attention to his meal. Frowning. He suddenly wondered where his other piece of toast had gone.

X

Jonouchi lifted a soda to his mouth, taking a long sip from the straw before he placed it back down on the table beside him. He sighed and pulled up from the table to lean backwards into his chair, giving Atemu and intense stare before bubbling laughter escaped from his mouth as he was reminded of what Yugi had just said.

"You can't be serious Atemu?" He questioned between gulps of laughter. "Yugi dressed as a girl!"

"He is," Yugi said grimly, looking from Jonouchi to Atemu. "I still think he should ask Anzu and then if that does not work we could hire a girlfriend from an agency, or something!

"Forget Anzu," Jonouchi countered, a bemused smirk on his face, "I want to see my Yug' on his first proper date."

Yugi intercepted. "Who said anything about a date? This only came up because Atemu was in desperate need of a pretend partner because he decided to lie to them. Why do I have to be dragged into this?"

Atemu watched the exchange between the two friends, he tried not to interfere as he held his chopsticks and quietly tried to eat his rice without drawing much attention to himself.

"Yug', if you dress up as a girl I will shout your games at the arcade for the rest of your life," Jonouchi suggested.

"No!" Yugi spat back as his face went slightly red as he struggled to keep all that was left of his man-hood.

The three of them traveled back to the games shop to play games for the rest of the Sunday afternoon. Jonouchi and Yugi teamed up to collectively train Atemu in preparation for the up coming tournament.

Atemu had to admit that he enjoyed Jonouchi's company more than he thought he would. The guy has a spirit that he had been blind to until he had become closer to Yugi. The way the pair of them bantered with each other warmed his heart and brought a smile to his face as he was reminded of Bakura and himself. He could finally start to see how Jonouchi and his cousin connected, total opposites which had come how complimented each other.

Jonouchi did not bring anything up that made Atemu feel unwelcome and he tried to include him in all of his and Yugi's conversations, even the ones where they talked about their shared experiences.

After a game between Jonouchi and Atemu had entered in a nail-biting conclusion with the mop-haired teen coming out victorious. Yugi excused himself to the bathroom and as soon as they heard the door closing shut Jonouchi looked at the former cool boy with a friendly smile.

"I think it is great that you are going to enter," Jonouchi admitted as he gathered up his deck and began to shuffle it effortlessly.

Atemu titled his head to one side as he regarded the comment. "Really?"

"It will be cool to be versing a friend," Jonouchi explained, "It is a real pity Yug' can't be convinced to play, but then again you are like his little project so In some ways it could be said that he is partly in it…"

"I think I might try and reason with Yugi concerning this whole tournament," Atemu admitted in a low voice so no one else might over hear him. "I think if I agree to enter then Yugi might be persuaded to help me out a bit."

Jonouchi raised an eyebrow at him. "And just how are you going to word it so it doesn't sound like blackmail?"

Atemu smirked knowingly. "Yugi already owes me one thing, so him helping me out will make it even."

X

Atemu collapsed into the couch of the lounge adjacent to the one Yugi was crawled up in as he watched a crime show on the television. He let his boy sink into the soft surface of the seat, leaning his head back against the pillow as he let out an exhausted sigh that he had been holding all day.

"That bad?" Yugi asked as

"That would be an understatement," Atemu murmured as he closed his eyes.

"Did much happen?"

There was a prolonged silence and Atemu pulled his head up and opened his eyes to look at Yugi, it was obvious in the instant he had something on his mind.

"Not very much just my father asking for a proper day to meet my girlfriend," Atemu said softly, his eyes dropped to look at the surface of the couch as he turned his body towards Yugi and place his arms on the head of the couch. "Yugi, can be make a deal?"

"Another one?" Yugi said surprised. "What about this time?"

"I will only agree to go to the tournament, if you agree to be my girlfriend for my parents."

Yugi's eyes narrowed. "You are blackmailing me?"

"In not such strong words, but yes."

"I can't believe you of all people would result to that!"

"I am truly sorry Yugi; however you did promise me you would go on a date with me and now that I have accepted that I will enter the tournament I think that it is only fair you help me out."

Yugi bolted to his feet, he could not understand why Atemu was being so persistent. Actually, that was a slight lie, he knew exactly why he wanted him to go on a date with him and his parents he just did not want to think about that reason right now.

Looked at Atemu feeling the frustration within him that he almost wanted to punch him. But he would not do that because he knew what it felt like to be in Atemu position. He read the look on Atemu's face and he felt his insides giving in. He sighed knowing he would be giving Atemu another chance once again. Knowing he could not break the teens hopes any more than he already had.

"Fine!" Yugi threw his hands up in defeat. "But don't think I am going to let this go so easily!"

"Alright then it is established you will go on a date with me!"

"But you will have to follow me during the tournament."

"In what way?"

"You will see."

X

The following day Yugi found himself standing outside the big neon sign which read 'Burger World' as he took a shaky step off the bus. As the door's to the large people-transporter he began to travel towards the main entrance already contemplating how he was going to convince Anzu to a round of 'who wants to meet Atemu's parents?'

"Hey Yugi!"

"Hi Anzu," Yugi said in a less enthusiastic voice as his good friend as she ran from her work station to give him a crushing hug.

She pulled back when she realised her friend was irresponsible and quite stiff in her hands, with her hands still clutching his shoulders she gave him a worried look. "Are you alright Yugi?"

Yugi shook his head quickly to clear his black expression and he gave her a small smile of assure her that he was alright; However, he was also slightly annoyed that he was having to ask her to do this, this should have been Atemu's job not his. He was not going to be blackmailed so easily.

"Earth to Yugi!" Anzu called cheerfully leaning in close to her friend's ear, sending a warm breath down his neck which did not seem to faze Yugi as they once did. "I have 30 minutes, let's find a seat and you can tell me everything!"

Once they were seated at a table in Burger World Anzu went on for a few minutes about how work had been going for her so far that day, she was glad that they had holidays for the next two weeks. She had had a couple of customers that day that had not been on their good side, so she had been running around trying to make them happy all day. Anzu had then brought up the fact they had not been spending as much time together as normal, she said that they need to hang out more outside of school. Yugi had taken this point as a hint that his friend sounded slightly jealous of his new friendship with Atemu as she had seem to be quite quiet when he was around, and usually avoided the group at lunch if he was there. He did not want Anzu to feel uncomfortable around Atemu, he did not want her to feel like he was replacing her either because that was the last thing on his mind. It made him wonder if she was missing the crush he had had on her, even though he had not bought it up, her eyes could just sense that change.

"Anzu," Yugi began.

"Yugi?" Anzu replied back, showing she was all-ears.

Yugi swallowed before continuing. "Are you suggesting we hang out more because you feel I am spending too much time with Atemu?"

Anzu's eyes widened. "No, Yugi… why do you say that?"

Yugi bit down on his lip. "You have nothing against my friendship with Atemu_, or_ the man himself?"

"Yugi if you had not noticed, I had been in love with Atemu a while ago, but now that I know he is gay…" She trailed off as she gave Yugi a look to check she was not revealing something he did not know already, with her check complete she continued. "Yugi, has Atemu said anything, or hinted anything towards any sort of romantic attraction for you?"

Yugi's mouth dropped open, how could she possibly know that? Had Atemu been singing his love for Yugi behind his back? This was probably unlikely, Anzu was just too smart for her own good. Yugi saw no point in denying the truth which was right in front of him.

"In not so few words, but _yes_," Yugi revealed in a whispered voice.

Anzu's reaction surprised him as she began to smile excitedly and he reached forward to poke him playfully with an added wink as she ecstatically reacted. "Good on you Yugi, you managed to seduce a cool boy!"

A big smile broke out uncontrollably at the sensations arising inside of Yugi. He could not deny that it felt good to know that someone as good looking as Atemu was attracted to him. He let himself feed off that moment and become the centre of the world as he took in all of Anzu's complements. Once he had grown accustomed to these new emotions he ignored them for the second to focus on more pressing matters.

"You are not angry that he is attracted to me?" Yugi queried nervously.

"No, it makes me more happy than sad. I am happy for you Yugi," Anzu smiled at him genuinely. "So, how did you let him down? How did he respond?"

His face fell as he realised he had been leaving Atemu hanging for almost a month. If that man meant so much to him, why was he waiting so long to say anything? Guilt erupted in the pit of his stomach and gobbled up the sensations he had been holding on to earlier. He had really stuffed up big time.

"You did not say anything did you?" Anzu picked up from Yugi's pro-longed silence.

Yugi shook his head, dropping his eyes to the table in guilt.

"So Atemu is still waiting, he is still hopeful that you will return another guy's feelings, when you are straight?" Anzu prodded as her voice became forceful, standing up in her chair to look her friend over. "Yugi talk to me!"

Yugi snapped under the weight of Anzu's observations and his growing sense of guilt.

"I think I might be falling for him as well!" Yugi shouted, his outburst caused a lot of heads from other tables to home in on their own.

Anzu's eyes were wide in shock and her mouth open she was for once at a loss for words, and Yugi was glad for he did not think he would be able to handle anymore accusations from her.

It was ten minutes before they had both calmed down and Anzu had taken in the information he had given her.

"You have to tell him right away!"

"How?" Yugi questioned, sounding scared and unsure. "He probably thinks I am a horrible person for making him wait for so long…"

"Yugi, if Atemu loves you then no matter how long you made him wait he will respect your decision to not rush into a relationship without first thinking about what you are both getting in to."

"And I had said no to going on a date with him to meet his parents, like it would have been the worst thing to do. I complained about it like it would have been so boring… and he had to blackmail me to agree!"

"Atemu asked you on a date?"

"I had said I would go on a date, but not dressed up as a girl…" Yugi trailed off. "Anzu do you want to do me a favor and go on a date with Atemu and pretend to be his girlfriend so they will leave him alone?"

"You have already made a deal with him Yugi!" Anzu raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What do you think I will say to you?"

"Yes?" Yugi asked hopefully.

Anzu rolled her eyes and began to pull herself up to her feet as she realised her break was finished. She spoke casually as if he had not suggested what he had just said. "So when this is supposed date?"

"Friday night."

"Well I will see you at Friday lunch time at your place, I will bring some of my old clothes and makeup to try on, see you then Yugi!"

She had gone into the back before Yugi could object.

X

If Atemu had had a choice he would not have had such a big audience in his house helping him prepare for his date with Yugi. Kaiba had tagged along with Jonouchi and had been helpful in teaching him how to properly iron his suit in preparation for the evening ahead. Bakura had cooked up a pre-dinner feast, testing his skills from a cooking class he had gone to with Ryou earlier on in the week.

Yes that is correct. Bakura had been spending a lot more time with Ryou during the week whilst his parents were there. Working between the hours when Marik was at his job and out with his friends he found Ryou was more than happy to bring him along to his cooking classes.

Atemu looked at his reflection in the mirror as he played with the tie that was hung loosely around his collar. He had taken extra care in his appearance for this evening, not just for his parents, but for Yugi. He wanted to make a good impression on the boy, and if he was lucky he might finally get a reply to his confession.

He began to wrap his tie in a well-rehearsed dance between ends until he had a tight bond between them, and he tucked the ends inside his white shirt. He hoped his parents were not too mean to Yugi tonight, he also hoped they did not see through the disguise of a man dressed up as a women. It should not be too hard to make him a girl however, Yugi's face was soft and child-like and could pass for that of a girls any day. His could see his own reflection in the bathroom mirror and how bright his naturally tanned face was getting as he thought about Yugi's physical appearance.

Unashamed he gave himself a satisfied smile. He hoped Yugi was not completely annoyed at him for forcing him into this. He could only imagine what Anzu had been forcing him through all day, he had offered his help, but the girl had refused. She had said something about it was bad luck to see a partner before their first date, he had thought this only applied to weddings although he could be missing something in terms of Japanese culture. He was secretly glad he was given the whole day to look forward to seeing Yugi dressed up for a night out with his parents, it meant the anticipation added to even more excitement.

He wondered what Yugi would be wearing, what sort of female he might take the persona of. He hopped he was not an excitable teen like Anzu, or Miho for that matter. Knowing Yugi though it was likely he would be himself more than anyone else, and that was all Atemu hopped he would be for him and his parents.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Authors note: I am so sorry for this late update I have been spending these past couple of weeks going through and reading chapters and changing and adding scenes. There is not a lot of change from the original ones, but if you want to make sure you don't miss out check back on the other chapters before this one.**_

* * *

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Yugi had not intended for there to be a big ceremony when meeting up with Atemu, but it ended up happening naturally with his friends. Anzu the main instigator had make herself Yugi's head organiser for his date that evening. She spend the entire day going through routines on how to act as a girl. Yugi learnt that even though it was tough at times being a boy, it was seemingly harder being a girl. There was too much to think about in preparation for a date. You had to know exactly what to wear and say, as well as appealing to the opposite sex -or the same sex, depending on what your preferences are.

He had almost lost his mind.

The demanding routines had eventually chipped away at Yugi to the point where he had given in to Anzu's pleas and by the time it came to dressing he was wearing a blue summer dress with matching black sandals. His hair was vigorously brushed and smoothed out by a straightener to give the illusion of a clique short style from the twenties.

"Yugi don't frown," Anzu instructed as she gently pushed the corners of Yugi's lips up. She tilted her head as she took a step back to admire her work.

Yugi tried to smile, but he was just too shocked by what he saw that he stared back at his own widened eyes and raised eyebrows. He could not believe that he was actually going to face Atemu looking like this and he did not care at that point that Anzu was a genius.

He deserved it.

Originally, Yugi had agreed to go on the date with Atemu because he felt guilty at the fact that he had not done anything in return for the cool teen's revelation of his feelings. He felt that going as a girl to make up for Atemu's own stupid mistake was an even better way to say 'I am sorry'. Yugi did not know how they would proceed from here after this whole nightmare was over. How he would bring up the fact that he had been hiding his own feelings from Atemu because he was still totally confused. He had no idea what it really felt like to truly love someone, no experience between telling what was love for a friend and love for a lover. The fact that he had also thought he was straight until he met Atemu made it also that extra bit challenging.

He needed to talk to Atemu.

The reflection of a Yugi who lacked the masculine persona made him feel sick as he felt completely covered up by make-up. He felt lost and slightly alien. Jou, Honda and the rest of his friends will not let him for get this for a long time yet.

The insecurities and fears that were running laps through Yugi's mind made him feel nervous and he hoped more than anything that Atemu would not leave at the sight of him. He did not want their date to be a complete disaster no matter how badly he wished it was not happening. There was no escape.

"Don't slouch."

"I'm not!" Yugi snapped, he closed his mouth sharply and his expression softened. His eyes drifted to Anzu's reflection and she gave him a soft smile. "I'm sorry."

Anzu brushed it away. "You are just nervous Yugi, this is your first proper date!"

He allowed himself to relax for the last few adjustments and finding he was starting to warm up to the prospect of going on a date to meet Atemu's parents. He was glad grandpa had gone to see Professor Hawkins for the week, his old friend from America was in Tokyo for the next two weeks. Yugi did not know how he would explain to his grandpa why he was dressing up like a girl in simple terms otherwise.

Anzu put down her tools by the sink as she heard a faint knock from downstairs. "That will probably be him!"

Yugi's posture tensed in the chair and his hands gripped the arms as he looked desperately at his own reflection. Anzu laughed softly and placed a hand on her friends shoulder, the rubbing quickly soothed Yugi and he managed to find the courage to stand up.

"You look perfect!" She assured him with a small smile.

Yugi surprised himself when he returned her compliment. "I hope he thinks so."

Anzu quickly took her friend in for a quick hug. "Just think how much fun you to will have when you get back!"

Yugi pushed her back with a look of alarm. "What is happening after?"

Anzu laughed. "What's the matter?"

She grabbed his hand before he would mouth a reply and he pulled him from the bathroom excitedly.

X

Anzu's face appeared behind the door as she pulled it open slightly to check who was behind it. Her expression grew wide as her eyes fell on her friends.

"Hey guys!" Her eyes settled on Atemu in particular who was hanging in the centre of the group. "Come on in!"

"Why did you take so long Anzu?" Jonouchi moaned sarcastically as he bolted in first dragging Atemu by the hand behind him, followed closely by the rear of the group which consisted of Malik and Honda. "The rain has nearly soaked our man's clean suit here!"

Anzu retorted. "It's not might fault for the weather Jonouchi. I was just doing my last minute adjustments to Yugi."

"Speaking of the boy, or should I say girl, where is he?" Honda asked as he glanced around the shop for any signs of a small spiky-haired boy.

Anzu gave the group a devious grin which earned her a curious eyebrow raise from Atemu.

"I want this to be perfect," Anzu explained. "Now if you Atemu will just come with me-"

Atemu was directed into one of the backrooms of the shop which turned out to be a lounge which had the staircase which lead to the upper floors of Yugi's house. Anzu pushed the Egyptian into a chair and she disappeared up the stairs.

The few minutes that she was gone allowed Atemu to assess the whole situation he had found himself in. He let his eyes amuse themselves with the various objects of interest which told him more about Yugi's personal life as he internally asked how he had ended up here.

It had all started with a day in detention. It was really thanks to Pegasus that he had ended up taking an interest in Yugi to begin with. He had made a stupid decision in listening to the _king, _but that was all behind him now, was it? The clearest answer was no. Pegasus was still after him, he still felt that he ruled the school. As long as Pegasus still had an interest in Yugi Atemu could not forget the slimy teen just yet.

This would never be the end completely, but if he and Yugi had the one chance to remove the current king from office, to see his smug smile whipped from his face as he was bet at a game of Duel Monsters, it would be worth it.

Atemu's drifting thought because caught as his eyes settled on the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Yugi stood a few feet away dressed in a blue floor length sleeveless dress accompanied by stylish black sandals. His hair was brushed downward so that resembled a 1920's-type hair style which was short yet clique. The face however and his eyes stood out more than anything because that to Atemu was where the true Yugi hid behind, his every sole echoing behind the glistening amethyst eyes. Atemu for the first time was given the sense of what it could feel like to be attracted to a female, if there was not the obvious fact that there was a guy hidden under all of that make-up and dress.

Atemu stood up slowly, mouth agape as his eyes locked onto Yugi. The pair were too hooked on each other to notice Anzu slip from the room. He stayed a safe distance apart as he caught a glimpse of Yugi's darkened rosy checks under the layers of make-up. He smirked at the red lines along Yugi's lips as he took a step forward, slipping his hands into his trouser pockets.

"Red looks good on you," Atemu whispered softly as he took in more of Yugi's appearance. "It brings out your beast features, although none of them are bad. It makes you look even more adorable."

Yugi retorted. "I'm not cute!"

Atemu laughed he just could not help himself to see Yugi's reaction he found himself slowing walking towards him. He dropped his voice as he replied. "I did not say you were cute, but that his true as well. You _are_ cute."

Yugi's eyes dropped to the space in front of his feet. He was not used to getting compliments, let alone from someone has good looking as Atemu.

"Yugi," Atemu spoke barely able to compose anything more substantial as he began to speak his own mind, falling to the beauty that stood before him. "You look beautiful."

Yugi's tiny Adams apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed some bile, quickly gathering his balls as he broke into a thankful smile. His eyes returned to Atemu's own. "Anzu did all the work," he waved it away as his eyes settled on Atemu's suit once more.

Atemu laughed as he imagined the stress Anzu would have been under to tame Yugi, particularly his hair, rubbing his neck he found himself stepping closer to the boy subconsciously. The girl-who-was-not-a-girl-but-a-boy made no attempt to escape the sudden intrusion of his personal space as Atemu reached out to place a hand on Yugi's bare shoulder. His eyes studied his face intently with concern, his laughter subsided.

Yugi sensed that something was on in the cool boy's mind, he gave Atemu a look of curiosity and placed a hand on top of Atemu's own. He spoke gently. "What's up?"

"I will let you get out if you want to now," Atemu spoke tenderly, watching for any signs of displeasure. "I will never force you to do anything you don't want to."

"Atemu, I have already made my decision," Yugi said. "I owe you a date considering all the things that have happened. And, once this is all over I think I owe you an answer, don't I?"

Atemu raised an eyebrow, before it hit him on what Yugi was saying. "Are you saying…?"

Yugi shook his head. "Let's not think too deeply on this subject shall we? Let's see how the dinner goes and then we can talk after."

"Fair point," Atemu agreed as he slipped his hand down to grasp Yugi's own. "How about we get on to it then?"

"I could not agree more," Yugi muttered. "The quicker I am back in some pants the better."

_Or out of them,_ Atemu thought as they followed each other out.

X

Expensive was not a word Yugi had commonly used to describe anything he could closely touch in his entire life. The outer building looked like something seen on a Parisian street and not on the industrial streets of Domino. The creamy concrete walls were decorated in hundreds of tiny decorative patterns outlining the windows from apartments on the upper stories and reliefs of mythical European gods around the main entrance of the first floor.

Atemu was admiring the building with equal appreciation and when he turned to Yugi the streetlamps seemed to cast a perfect shadow on him highlighting the key structures on his face. Yugi's eyes began to marvel at the living work of art in front of him until he had to pat his dress down when a gust of wind travelled up his legs. Atemu found himself laughing when the boy cursed under his breath.

This time Atemu did not have the same luck finding his parents as easily as last time. He had had to go and enquire at the main information desk before someone was sent to collect them. A butler Atemu recognised as an Egyptian named Ubaid, assuring him that they had found the right location.

They had followed him through a casino lounge, a lavishly decorated chamber of two whole floors and a high ceiling covered in frescos. They passed rows of players and gambling machines, Yugi felt a buzz of excitement at the sounds of the games as he passed around them.

They ascended a spiral staircase to the second floor which looked out onto the massive floor below. Ubaid hurried through tables and passed a bar and through into a private room. There was a traffic load of butlers attending to a table in the centre of the room and just across from where they entered French doors opened out onto a small private balcony. Atemu's parents were standing out on the edge, drinking a glass of wine as he chatted away in Arabic. The rain had obviously subsided from the time.

The sight of Atemu's parents sent Yugi into panic mode and he fell back behind Atemu. Before he even had a chance to turn and run he felt a comforting hand was placed on the small of his back. He looked up and notice it was Atemu. The small gesture was enough to keep Yugi standing.

_God please just let them think I'm a girl. Please, please…_

Atemu leaned in close obviously sensing his dates disharmony, whispering. "Try and act normal."

Atemu pulled back from Yugi as his parents caught sight of them and keeping his hand around Yugi's waist he gave them a big smile. He watched as his mother drifted in first, followed closely by his father and she hurried to fling her arms around her son. Atemu's grip on Yugi fell for an instant as he returned his mother an awkward one-handed hug.

As Atemu's mother coo-cooed over her son Yugi found himself being watched by Atemu's father. The man himself was a mirror image of his son, disregarding a slight difference in height and age, he looked like a typical Egyptian businessman dressed in a sharp black suit. His jet back hair was combed back and he held himself like a proper professional, tall and proud. He stayed a safe distance away, hand in his pockets turning to stare at his son as he escaped his mother's grasp.

Atemu's mother on the other hand came up and grabbed Yugi from Atemu's grips, pulling him in for a tight motherly hug, which Yugi had not experienced in a long time. He was slightly paranoid that as soon as she realised his chest was rather lacking in boobs she might bring it up, but as she pulled back she grasped the boy's shoulder and gave him a loving smile is fears went away. "You look beautiful dear."

Yugi stammered as he put on his best girly voice. "Thank you! You look as great as Atemu says."

His mother's smile grew and he looked at Atemu with suspicion. "That's very nice dear, but really has my son said those things?"

"He says you are a great mother and-"

"That's enough babe," Atemu interrupted as he wrapped an arm around Yugi's neck and slid a hand over the small teen's mouth to silence him, returning a cheesy smile back to his mum.

His mum hissed at Atemu to let go of Yugi's mouth before she turned to her husband and beckoned him to come over to introduce himself to Atemu's girlfriend. Reluctantly the man obeyed and he moved over to his wife's side, his composure softened the moment she slipped an arm through his as he spoke. "Why don't we take our seat and then we can introduce ourselves?"

"My name is Aknamkanon and this is my wife Manu," he explained as he sat down beside his wife and opposite Atemu and Yugi at the large mahogany table.

Yugi had not uttered a word to Atemu's parents bar a few simple greeting here and there since they had taken their seats opposite the intimidating man and his wife. Atemu could feel Yugi's unease and he looked at him He dropped his hand onto Yugi's thy under the table away from public view to unsure him that he was right beside him. He knew he was taking a risk with the forward gesture it was just the only thing he could think of in that moment to show Yugi he was there for him.

Yugi's eyes dropped below to table as he felt the sudden contact of Atemu's hand on such a sensitive area and he jumped slightly in his seat, he followed the teens arm up until his eyes met with Atemu's own. He felt a wave of calmness wash over him and he realised there was nothing that could go wrong. Atemu squeezed lightly and pulled his hand away before his parents suspected anything.

Yugi breathed deeply and he looked at Aknamkanon in the eye. This was his final test.

"My name is Hikari," He blushed as he greeted Atemu's father in a soft voice, "I met Atemu at school, and…" He trailed off to choose his next few words carefully, and then he realised just how much fun he could have this.

He looked from the intense stare of the parents to look at Atemu and a teasing, daring smirk travelled up a corner of Yugi's face. Atemu's smile dropped and his eyes narrowed as he worded a silent 'what' as he could almost pick something was about to go off. Yugi gave him no time to figure out his plan as he began right then.

His smirk became a broad, loved-up smile as he reverted to the act. "We have been in a relationship for almost three months, I have a great gift for my sugarplum on our anniversary!"

This was revenge best served hot.

"Manu," Yugi said in his best girlish accent, "What was my Atemu-baby like as a child? I bet he was so adorable just like he is now!"

Manu's eyes lightened up at the subject. "Atemu was a cute baby, he was born prematurely you see by almost one month which is why he has such a short stature."

Yugi ignored the digging of Atemu's fingers that were digging a little too tightly into Yugi's leg as he picked off from where he left off. "Do you have photos?"

"Of course!" Within seconds Manu had produced a collection of baby photos from her wallet and was handing them around the table.

Atemu's hands shot up in the air along with his whole body across the table as he tried to snatch the photos off his mother before she handed them over for public viewing. "Mother, Hikari does not need to see these!"

Yugi wave him off as he managed to grab hold of one photo which showed a small chubby Atemu playing at a park with a smaller Kaiba. This was priceless! "I don't know why you are some embarrassed baby, it's not like I have not seen little children before. You look adorable, anyway."

Atemu gave up and moved in close so that only Yugi could hear him. "I am going to kill you when this is all over!"

Yugi laughed taunting with a hand of photos as he eagerly looked through them. Atemu huffed as he dropped his head into his arms on the edge of the table.

Atemu's mother had been staring at the pair of them so far with a look of happiness and the sort of fulfilment that only a mother could processes when she sees a son or daughter grown up.

When they had calmed down she retrieved the photos and put them back into her wallet, checking her son was okay before she moved the conversation along.

"What are you planning to do when you leave school?" She asked curiously.

"I love history," Yugi admitted, blushing crimson as he recalled, "I love people and ancient civilizations. I hope to go to university and study archaeology, and I would love see Atemu and I going to the same university."

He found himself fluttering his eyelids as he leaned against the table for extra effect to give the illusion that he was seriously thinking those girlish daydreams.

"That is a strange field to be getting into for someone of your gender," Aknamkanon pointed out bluntly as he chewed away at his meal.

His wife butted in in that moment. "Dear, you cannot say that to Hikari, leave our sons girlfriend alone. She can do what she wants!"

Aknamkanon gave his wife a displeased glare before he moved his attention to his own son.

"How serious are you Atemu?"

Atemu went with his gut feeling when he replied. "We have not being going out for very long, we are taking things slowly."

Aknamkanon gave him a look of approval before moving back to observe his meal that was already half-eaten. "That is good to hear, I don't want to find out that in nine months' time I have a grandson before my own son has had his proper study."

Collectively Atemu's and Yugi's face went red at the same time. Yugi had dropped his fork back into this meal as he looked over at Atemu for support and in equal shock. Could he seriously be that forward?

Atemu took the reigns as he felt it was his responsibility to deal with his father. "Like I said father, I want to see the world and live a bit before… I commit to something like that. I am not sure I am even that sort of person that wants a baby."

Aknamkanon's face was indescribable in that moment for his jaw began to tighten and the grip around his cutlery made it vibrate. The man placed his cutler back down on the table, excusing himself for a cigarette as he got up from his seat and going out to stand on the balcony behind the glass doors.

"I will go see if your father is alright," Manu explained and she got up to go and join Aknamkanon outside.

Ignoring his parents Atemu looked back at Yugi. "How are you going there?"

Yugi took a sip of his water. "Manu is nice, although I don't know what to make of Aknamkanon."

"Not many warm up to Aknamkanon when they first meet him."

"I notice that you call him by his first name and not 'father' or 'papa'," Yugi pointed out as his eyes drifted off to study the balcony.

"That is correct," Atemu said. "As you have probably gathered I do not have a strong relationship with _my father_, he never treated me as a son when I was a child I was more a free employee. This relationship we shared was one built on business and my childhood was taken up by my father trying to raise the perfect successor. I see him as a boss rather than a blood relation. My mother on the other hand she is a _true_ parent. I sometimes wonder how a woman life her ended up with a man like him."

"There must be some good that attracted Manu to him."

Atemu was silent for a period, it was almost like he was avoiding something. Yugi's attention fell to his half eaten plate and began to pick at it with his fork-one of the many strange forms of cutlery he had be introduced to that evening.

Atemu watched Yugi playing around with the cake fork as he tried to eat some chicken with it and he laughed. Yugi shot him a stare. "What?"

He returned Yugi a small innconet smile. "Nothing."

"Sure it is," Yugi said, dropping his fork to turn to Atemu.

They sat facing each other in a companionable silence. Atemu had lost all intrest in his meal and he parents and he allowed himself to reached out and grab Yugi's limp hand in his own. The boy did not flinch and he let Atemu to gently rub the surface of his hand. Yugi breathed a light sigh as the simple gesture allowed him to relax.

"Yugi."

Yugi opened his eyes as he realised he had almost drifted off to sleep by the feel of the other teen's touch and rhythmic massaging. He lifted his head to eye Atemu curiously.

"Why did you act like that back there?"

"I was acting," Yugi pointed out, holding back an amused smile. "And I am not going to drop it when they come back. The majority of girls I know would be all over you and them exactly like that."

"That is exactly what I bought it up," Atemu admitted. "It was scary seeing you go at my mother and father like that. If we ever end up in this situation again can we avoid the embarrassment, or I will take to doing it to your own grandfather."

"Don't worry," Yugi laughed. "I do not plan on dressing up like a girl in public for a very long time."

"And please don't encourage my mother any more than you have," Atemu pleaded playfully. "I think she has had enough fun embarrassing me again today."

"Fine," Yugi agreed. "But I get to still call you those names, and I have the right to ask and ramble about you as much as I like. Remember you have to make up for the fact you have blackmailed me into doing this!"

X

The evening had passed smoothly and by the end of the final meal Aknamkanon was almost passed out in his seat from the amount of expensive wine his wife had made him consume. Manu was stroking his head as he rested it on her shoulder affectionately as she told Yugi about the time she had met a handsome Egyptian and had fallen in love in that instant.

Yugi could not see what Atemu disliked soo much about his mother. She was a mother who genuinely cared for her son and husband, she was the key component that seemed to keep the family relations rolling smoothly. She was the calm and patient soul to match the two equally hard-edged ones who were enemies to each other. She tamed them and was the glue which allowed Atemu to have a relationship with his father, not matter what form it seemed.

Yug found himself telling her about his Grandpa and how he had been his caregiver ever since he had been a young boy. He had lost his mother and father in the space of one night. He had never had much of an idea what it felt like to be loved a mother, but it did not matter as grandpa seemed to fill in all of those roles. Seeing other kids as he grew up, however, made him envy them slightly, even seeing the banter between Atemu and Manu allowed him to imagine his own mother and him ageing about the silliest of things. Just that little fantasy made him bittersweet, but happy at how his life had turned out.

"It has been nice to meet to Hikari," Manu said when they found themselves sitting at the table by themselves, Atemu off to have a son and father discussion on the balcony.

"I really enjoyed it as well," Yugi agreed as he smiled at the woman.

"My husband is never very observant at what is really important," She said as he looked away to give her husband an affectionate look before turning to look into Yugi's eyes. "And Atemu seems to think I am the same."

Yugi's sensed something was up. His heart began to race and he held on for the next thing.

"I knew as soon as I saw you that you were not what Atemu claimed you were," Manu said, "You are too bright and too genuine, although I can forget that you tried to cover these up. I know Atemu does not like Aknamkanon knowing that he is gay, so I can understand why he would have asked his friend to dress up as a girl to pretend to be his girlfriend. I do not care who my son chooses for a partner, only that he is happy."

She gave Yugi a smile. "I can see that you are not just a friend though, are you? You have that… spark."

Yugi's eyes widened and he stammered in his reply. "No, you are mistaken. Me and-and Atem-m-mu-"

Manu held her hand up to silence him a caring smile creeping up the corners of her mouth. "No more child."

Her eyes followed the sound of the glass doors opening. "Atemu can be assured I am not one to openly reveal his secrets."

She stood up and Yugi followed suit as Atemu and Aknamkanon approached the table.

"I have just sorted with Atemu and we will be able to get a ride to the airport from his apartment," Aknamkanon explained to his wife. "We are also being guaranteed the whole final day with our son!"

Atemu's face looked nothing sort of sick of being in the same room as his parents as he looked over at Yugi and rolled his eyes to show that he was not surprised by their announcement. Yugi gave him a pointed tongue back when no one else was looking before slipping it back in just as Manu looked at him.

"Would you like to come and spend the day with us?"

Yugi decided he would object considering he did not know how long he would hold up his performance for Aknamkanon much longer. Also, he did not think he could handle another whole day sitting in a bathroom whilst Anzu did his hair and make-up.

Manu and Aknamkanon said good bye as they drifted back out onto the balcony watching Atemu and his date be escorted from the room and back to the main entrance. And luckily enough Atemu did not have to result to using public transport but within five minutes of calling Kaiba they had a ride back to the Game Shop.

There was little talk of anything between Yugi and Atemu as they sat in the back of the limo with Kaiba, Jou, Honda and Ryou. Atemu noticed every time he tried to look at Yugi in the eye the little teen's head would drop into lap, he found his partners lack of communication worrying. He ignored it for the sake of their passengers who would talk nothing else than of the fact that Yugi looked dashing as a girl. Honda even bought up that fact that Otogi had suggested if Atemu failed to grab Yugi's attention he would be happy to be second. The revelation made Atemu determined to get Yugi alone as soon as they could so he could have a serious conversation with him that they had both be avoiding, enough was enough.

X

The limo pulled into the curb next to the Game Shop and Yugi slowly clambered out as he felt the exhaustion of the day hitting him. He waved a quick good bye to everyone one and turned to enter the shop when he noticed Atemu getting out of he opposite side.

"I just want to talk to Yugi for a moment," Atemu explained to the party in the limo before he shut the room and lumbered up to the side walk to the stand by Yugi.

"Coming in?" Yugi asked, tilting his head to one side as he studied Atemu.

Fighting back a tired yawn Atemu said. "No, first date rules remember."

Yugi rolled his eyes and laughed, he turned his body slightly to Atemu. His indicated with his head to the car. "Want to come in for a moment, so we don't have any preying eyes?"

"What are you planning to do, kidnap me?"

"No you idiot," Yugi exclaimed grabbing Atemu by the arm to hurry things up and he pushed him into the Game Shop first.

Yugi shut the door behind him and turned back to Atemu.

"I really enjoyed myself tonight," Yugi said.

"Me to, it was fun."

"Even if I was wearing a dress."

"Maybe you could dress up more often," Atemu suggested quietly, his eyes drifting back down Yugi's dress.

"Maybe," Yugi said blindly.

His eyes caught on to Atemu's own and something changed in that moment. Yugi's legs began to drift over to Atemu with every step they took until he was close enough to smell the faint scene of aftershave. A smell that could be described as nothing else but one which perfectly fitted Atemu. He always did look gorgeous and now Yugi could confirm that he smelt good as well, he began to wonder did this perfection run as far as taste?

There was only one way to find out.

Yugi took a step forward, bodies pressing up to each other as Yugi grabbed either side of Atemu;s face and pulled him in for a light peck. Pulling back, Yugi took a moment to admire his work. He gave Atemu a smug smirk as he saw the red lip print left on Atemu's lips. The teen looked surprised, eyes wide and body tense. Yugi let his arms drop from around Atemu's neck and he took a cautious step back.

"See you later," Yugi spoke softly.

When Atemu returned to the car he ignored all the curious questions from his friends about what had gone on in the Games shop. He decided that this would be the one time when he would be happy to hide such a juicy secret.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

X

Despite it being a Saturday Ryou was awoken by a loud bang at his apartment door at seven in the morning. Startled, he clambered out of his bedding as he looked around the dimly-lit room as he wondered who would be visiting him so early on a weekend.

He pushed back his half-closed bedroom door and shot down the stairs already fully-awake. He reached the entryway in time for another loud bang to come rattling through the wood of the door.

Ryou sighed, turning the lock and pulling the door half-open to see who had grazed the early morning with their presence. He scowled at the sight of Bakura standing on his porch, his hand held in the air as if about to strike another blow into the wood.

"Hello?" Ryou offered tiredly as he realised the time of the morning.

He did not have time for this right now.

Bakura ignored the teen's greeting and he bolted through the open door rambling as he casually strolled in through the lounge into the kitchen. "I am hungry and I heard you were a good cook."

Ryou trailed behind Bakura, eyes wide with shock and he watched the teen closely.

"How did you know where I lived?" Ryou exclaimed, he quickly snatched a vase that Bakura had being examining on a coffee table. "Don't touch anything!"

Bakura seemed to ignore Ryou's frantic movements around his flat as his eyes surfed around the room in search of something. His eyes darted endlessly around the room at the all the little things they could see. He thought that the house was picture perfect for someone like Ryou, a little Nancy house which old women lived in. He smirked at Ryou before his attention refocused ahead of him.

"I tracked your phone down," Bakura explained as he entered the kitchen and began to open cupboards and pull-out various utensils and ingredients onto the polished marble island.

Ryou began to wrestle with Bakura as he produced a pocket knife to slice an unopened packet of flour. Victorious, Ryou slipped the knife safely back into his place and held it a safe distance away from the crazed teen.

"Why are you here, in my kitchen at seven in the morning?"

Bakura eyed him irritably

"Like I said I was hungry," When he spoke he said it with such bluntness that it almost seemed like he was serious. Ryou realised rather quickly that he was. "Now make me a pancake."

Bakura claimed one of the bar stalls and then looked at Ryou expectantly. Ryou sighed for the hundredth time in five minutes as he struggled to understand how someone could be so rude. Eying Bakura with annoyance he reluctantly agreed as he took his place at the island.

Bakura watched his every movement, studying him like he was a fascinating science subject that needed to be observed as he began to take out the ingredients and utensils for baking. Ryou was a natural cook. He had learnt to cook a basic pancake when he five years old and since then he had mastered the favoured breakfast. He decided he would show Bakura that the rumours were not just rumours they were indeed fact.

As he opened the played with a pair of scissors he allowed his eyes to look at Bakura. There was something not quite right about the teen at that moment, he would not just come over to a friend's house for a simple pancake, and there was something much deeper in the actions which he showed. It was faintly there like a flashing light in the darkness.

He took his eyes from Bakura to focus his fall attention on the task at hand. He collected all the ingredients together in a bowl and once they were moulded into a nice consistency he pulled out a plan and turned on the oven top. His eyes flicked briefly back to Bakura and he gave the teen a small smile to reassure him that he was almost done.

And then minutes later:

"Here."

Bakura looked down from Ryou's face to the dish that has been presented in front of him. It was a simple pancake. Thin, and yet it seemed to radiate flavour. Bakura took the pancake in his bare hands and he swallowed it down in one quick movement. Placing the plate back down on the island, he looked back up at Ryou expectantly.

"More."

Ryou rolled his eyes. It seemed he had managed to please the teen at least.

Half an hour later after many more pancakes has passed through Bakura's lips the teen seemed satisfied. He stood up, making little conversation with Ryou he suddenly turned towards the couch. He flung his legs over the back off it and landed into the soft surface, lying back with his eyes closed.

"Done are we?" Ryou asked as he began to clean up his work space.

Bakura replied through a muffled voice. "If pancakes were as good as that I might consider having breakfast more often."

"Thanks…" Ryou said awkwardly. "Do you want to tell me why you came here anyway?"

"Let's just say if I ever have a problem again at least I know your cooking will help sort it."

X

Atemu was surprised to see Bakura walk out early in the morning. He barely said a word to his old friend bar the fact that he thought his first date with Yugi went better than he intended. It was almost like his friend was annoyed that Atemu had found himself a potential partner.

He had slept very little that night as he lay in his bed watching his ceiling as he thought through the previous couple of days and months. He was increasingly thinking less about his past as a popular kid and more about a possible future with Yugi. He had decided to ignore Bakura's attitude for the time being as he knew that the teen would come back eventually once he had calmed down.

At six sharp his phone rang.

Shaking his half-sleepy head he reached over blindly to his bedside table to grab his phone. Sitting up he held his phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He greeted sleepily.

There was crackling on the end of the line. A period of aerie silence before a deep voice spoke.

"You have one last chance."

"Who is this?" He questioned. "Why are you calling me?"

The caller continued as if he had no heard Atemu at all. "His majesty has been very patient with you and Bakura. He will not allow you continuing defining his power and making a fool of him. You need to stay away from the Motou boy, or you will wish you never disobeyed Pegasus."

Atemu felt his checks reddening and his insides warning up and he did the best thing he had probably ever done. He hung up on the caller and he dropped his phone into his sheets. The whole call and sent a cold shiver across his whole body and he tensed up as he tried to recompose himself. He knew that the only way that this would end now is if he confronted Pegasus directly. The tournament was less than a week away, but he could not wait that long. He found himself calling a number he never thought he would find himself calling again and he was not surprised when the owner picked it up on the first ring.

"Hello Yami-boy!"

"I will make a deal with you."

"That sounds delightful. Now what exactly does this entail?"

"I will be in town today, by the airport around three can we meet up talk then?"

Pegasus laughed. "Certainly my dear knight. I will hold off my hounds for now and we can come to an arrangement over a good cup of tea."

"I never said anything about a drinking," Atemu pointed out bitterly.

"Then how do we want to play this?"

"Bring your Duel Monsters deck and we will see how well you play."

X

It was a slight bother that he had promised he was going to spend the whole last day with his parents. He would have preferred to have spent the majority of it constructing a deck with Yugi in order to face Pegasus in the afternoon.

He had whole hour before his parent's plane took off back to Egypt and his mind was thinking of nothing else but the prospect of beating Pegasus at his own game. He was not going to give up his friendship with Yugi for anything. There were easier ways of getting rid of Pegasus' continuous threats, but this duel would allow Atemu to have some power over the king.

Atemu had his phone out as he sat in the waiting room next to his mother and father as they waited for the gates to open. He had sent Yugi and early morning text to warn him off his call and the threats Pegasus had made against him. His friend had seemed calm he had agreed to stay inside to calm Atemu's paranoias that he might get kidnaped before the duel and then used as a tool for manipulation.

Yugi supported Atemu's decision to face Pegasus a lot earlier on than in the actual tournament. The calls were a spit too far and they wanted to get along with their lives and this would be a chance to overthrow the king once and for all.

Atemu had only told Yugi about the duel and they had agreed he would meet up with him beforehand so they could pull together to construct a deck to face Pegasus. He did not see this stamping Pegasus out entirely however it will make him loose some of that huge ego he had.

He hopped that they could work together despite the unspoken problems between them. Spending time alone with Yugi might also allow him the opportunity to ask him where they relationship stood now with the kiss they had shared last night.

Yugi had hinted at the fact he was straight; however, this did not seem as likely as it once did. For one, Yugi had had a crush of Anzu once upon a time, but he had never acted on his feelings. Atemu on the other hand was a completely new tale. Yugi had kissed him, and it felt genuine. Was this really his first kiss? Because the way he had done it last night had seemed like a professional.

Manu leaned over to kiss her son's check as the call for their gate sounded on the intercom of the airport.

"Love you Atemu," She goo-gooed as she then pulled him in for a breath-crushing hug. "Look after Hikari he's a special one."

Atemu gave his mum a look of alarm which made her give him a look of disappointment. "Did you really think I would not notice darling?"

Atemu simply shrugged as he quickly realised that she was too smart for her own good and he trusted her enough that she would not go telling his father anytime soon. He relaxed knowing he had his mother on his side for this one thing.

"See you later!" Atemu waved as his father came up to give him a hand shake.

"I will call you Atemu when we get to Dubai so you don't have to worry that we have not crush landed in the sea somewhere!" Manu joked as he reached for her husband and gave her son one last look of sadness. "Love you darling!"

Atemu nodded at the pair of them, slipping his hands into his pockets as he watched them migrate into a sea of other passengers until they were completely gone.

As if on a perfect timer Yugi sent him text to see if he was parent free as of now. He had felt his spirits rise and he replied with a quick yes and added that he would be coming over to the Game Shop to prepare for the duel.

X

Ryou zipped up his winter jacket and at the foot of the stairs he looked back into the kitchen. It seemed Bakura was nowhere to be seen. As he slipped back into the longue to collect his bag and wallet from the table he began to hear a light sound coming from the side room. When he poked his head into the room he found Bakura seated at his desk playing a video on his laptop.

Ryou rolled his eyes and whistled to get Bakura's attention. "Oi."

Bakura glanced up from his video and seeing Ryou's head floating in the doorway his brows squished together. Ryou moved around him to slam the lid shut and he glanced nervously at the time on the wall.

"What is getting your insides in a frenzy?" Bakura asked as he reluctantly let Ryou shoe him from the office chair and out into the main hallway.

Ryou frowned as he turned to face the other teen and threw his hands up in the air. "I have my cooking class in an hour and I can't have you hanging in my house!"

"Why not?"

"For all I know you might catch something on fire!"

"Will not."

Ryou pressed his lips together. He did not have a lot of time left before the bus would be driving passed and he did not want to be the one that turned up late for the class. He took a second to swallow the burning urge to smack Bakura across the face as he averted his eyes to the door. Without looking to his side he reached out blindly and grabbed Bakura's arm, pulling out of the house behind him. He could feel the weird looks the teen was giving him as he went.

Once Ryou had locked his door he turned to his side to find Bakura was still standing and watching him intensely. It was slightly scary in a way. Ryou decided to ignore this fact as he pointed over Bakura's shoulder.

"My bus is here now," Bakura looked over his shoulder to find a bus was just proceeding to pull up at a nearby bus stop. When he looked back at Ryou he received a look of utter annoyance. Ryou began to explain. "For my class."

"On a weekend?" Bakura said and as he closed his mouth the sides rolled into a smirk.

"It is an adult class," Ryou explained as he slowly began to move towards the parked bus.

Bakura began to follow him. "Can I come?"

Ryou glanced back at Bakura as he stopped at the open bus door. "Can you cook?"

Bakura shook his head.

Ryou quickly gave the bus diver a quick apology as he boarded the bus and then he said quickly back to Bakura: "Then I guess I will see you round."

Bakura launched himself onto the bus after Ryou and grabbed him by the wrist with one of his hands whilst using the other to brace himself against the handrail on the bus. Ryou quickly snatched back his hand and glared at the boy. "What?"

"The class is meant to teach people to cook?"

"Yes."

"Well then that settles it," Bakura smiled as he then proceeded to produce some money for the bus fee.

Ryou did not mumble a word the whole journey there.

X

Yugi lifted his eyes up from his cards. Atemu was still nowhere to be seen. His stomach had been on edge all day to see the teen ever since the previous night when Yugi had made the bold move of kissing Atemu on the lips. He was anxious to know what Atemu thought, he was even more so to have the talk that they have been avoiding for far too long. Things just kept getting in the way and now they had a duel with Pegasus to plan he figured they would not get a chance whilst the teen was in the way.

Yugi had been shop watching all day. Seeing as his Grandpa would not be back for the rest of the week he had found he had more responsibility around the shop. He had spent the day cleaning and restocking shelves and when Jonouchi and Anzu arrived to hear about the night before he had been distracted for a good hour. Anzu had left for her afternoon dance class and Jonouchi had hung around for a couple of games of cards.

"I will remind you for next time Yug' but don't let your boyfriend have lipstick on his face if you don't want everyone else to find out about you late night kissing session."

Yugi ignored Jonouchi's teasing comment as he laid his final card down to claim another victory.

"Give up yet?" Yugi offered as he collected his deck pieces.

Jonouchi shook his head as he leaned across the counter to collect his own cards. "Yug', you know that one victory does not make you unbeatable. I think I have a new strategy that will get you good this time around."

"Let's hope then that the cards play well for you," Yugi said through light laughter. "But, no matter what. You should be scared."

"What for?" Jonouchi asked as he placed a smirk on his face.

Yugi's laughter subsided and he gave his friend a serious look. "Are you sure you have you head screwed on right? Did I or did I not just beat you?"

"Like I said Yug' I could never be scared of someone as adorable as you even if you just beat me for the fifth time today."

A deep baritone voice disrupted their playful banter. "You forgot to mention cute."

Yugi looked up from his cards as the voice, Jonouchi turned in his chair to find Atemu was standing next to him wearing a curious smile as he observed the two friends play fighting. Yugi's smile grew even wider as his eyes were finally allowed the pleasure of laying their senses on such a beautiful subject.

Yugi found his interest in playing Duel Monsters was suddenly being drained as his desires seemed to be finding a curiosity in a new type of game which concerned a certain Egyptian. He could feel his checks warming up rapidly and his hands loosing grip of the deck he had been shuffling. He dropped his eyes and turned his attention to gathering his deck.

Jonouchi gave Atemu a brotherly sort of handshake before the pair of them laughed and pulled each other in for a quick bone-crushing hug. As they escaped each other's clutched Yugi had managed to clear his mind in time of embarrassing thoughts and gave Atemu a huge grin as they eyes reconnected.

"Atemu, you are early!"

Atemu shrugged and at the same time managed to keep his hands wedged firmly in his pockets. Yugi could not hold himself any longer and he beckoned Atemu closer to his side of the countertop. When Atemu was an arm's length a way Yugi threw his arms around Atemu's neck and the teen returned the gesture by wrapping his own arms around Yugi's waist. Their chests pressed up tightly together and Yugi proceeded to rest his hand on Atemu's shoulder. He could smell the Egyptian's aftershave, a mixture of exotic odours which were both fruity, seductive and masculine and it made his insides soften. The warmth which radiated off the teen was also as comforting as the vaigue sound of his breathing as he realised he had never been this close to another human being in such a long time. It felt like the love of a mother which was unconditional and would be there to protect him no matter what. The thought both saddened Yugi as he had not thought of his mother in a long time except in his loneliest days; however, Yugi felt at piece for the first time in his life since his mother had died.

When the sound of Jonouchi clearly his throat aroused the conforting silence. Yugi awoke from his thoughts as he realised he had his eyes shut. Atemu appeared to have also been caught of guard for when they pulled back fro their hug slowly and looked at each other brielfly Yugi noted the man's blinking eyelids. Yugi laughed and let go of Atemu as he returned to his seat. The look Jonouchi gave him showed that his friend was amused by the whole episode.

Jonouchi had packed up his deck and was sitting awkwardly as his eyes darted around the room in an unsettled manner. Yugi realised his friend seemed a little out of place.

"Jou, is everything alright?"

Jonouchi replied far too quickly to Yugi's liking. "Of course Yug'. I remembered I have this thing on in half an hour that I need to attend for work…"

Yugi titled his head to one side as he watched his friend closely. Jonouchi's checks were tinted a shade darker than their usual pale complexion and Yugi doubted it was just due to the warm day outside. He decided he would allow his friend this one moment to lie blantenly to him as he knew deep down Jonouchi was just doing it to give his two friends the space to talk.

"Of course," Yugi played along as plasted a presend smile on his face. "If you are busy I wont keep you. The shop and I will be here when you get back."

Atemu looked unaware of the silent exchange between Yugi and Jonouchi as his intrest had found it self studying Yugi's deck which the teen had left on the counter. He had picked it up and was shuffleing through them as he half-listened to their conversation and waited for it to finish.

Jonouchi gave Yugi a small nod which Yugi returned as a silent 'thank you' was worded. The taller teen shrugged giving Atemu a salut as he looked up from the cards as he realised what was happening. Atemu threw his hands up in the air. "You don't need to feel like you have to go because I have come here. You are now as much as my friend now as Yugi is."

Jonouchi chuckled. "I doubt that close, but it is nice to hear that."

Yugi touched Atemu lightly on the hand which was rested on the counter and the cool boy's attention was drawn for a single moment. He looked curiously as Yugi and as he read the small smile on Yugi's face as he shook his head he quickly realised what the gesture was for. He gave Yugi a reassuring smile before he looked back to the retreating Jonouchi.

"Have a nice time," Atemu said and he gave Jounouchi a wave.

"See you," Yugi quickly joined in.

Once Jonouchi was out of sight Yugi realised that this was the first time that both he and Atemu were in the same room alone since the kiss the night before. He found words that he wanted to say would not come as he fell into a silent routine of watching Atemu as he took the seat Jonouchi had occupied earlier.

Atemu seemed to be sharing the same problem as Yugi because he two remained tongue tied. His eyes followed Yugi's own and then eventually it was Yugi who cracked for the silence as he realised how stupid they were both being.

He started out on a topic which was pondering on his mind. "I can't help feeling guilty," Yugi said as he found a fascination in the patterns of the wooden countertop.

Atemu looked at him curiously. "What about?"

Yugi shrugged. "Its nothing."

The teen sighed in annoyance at Yugi's stubbornness, but he tried to maintain a calm voice. "Yugi, you can tell me… Are you regretting last night?"

Yugi's head shot up with a look of horror. "No!"

Atemu's features relaxed. "Then what is on your mind?"

"Jou," Yugi said simply.

"Oh," Atemu said in realisation. "Do you feel that he forced him to leave?"

"In a way."

"You don't need to worry about him."

Yugi eyed Atemu. "Why not?"

"He was just giving us space."

"Space to do what?" Yugi spat before he realised how forceful he was being. His narrowed eyes widened. "But, he should know that we have lots of time to talk about _that _sort of stuff later on."

"He is just doing us a favour," Atemu said. "And I think with the knowledge of Pegasus hovering over our heads he just thought he was giving us something nice before we have to face all the bad things."

Yugi's face scrunched up. "Am I over thinking this whole thing?"

"No," Atemu smiled. "You are just being naturally concerned for you friend. Also, this whole situation must be fairly new to you."

Yugi nodded slowly as he took in Atemu's observations. He then lifted his head back up to look at the other teen. "So."

"So?"

"Enough about Jou," Yugi continued as he clapped his hands together. "Let's talk about this situation."

Atemu nodded in agreement. "We can talk about us later. Let's get on to the subject of Pegasus."

Yugi's smile faltered as he tried to cover up his disappointment that Atemu was too quick to shake off the topic. It appeared Jonouchi had given them the best opportunity for things to make more sense between them, but as long as Pegasus was still on their minds it was hard to not think straight.

"Your meeting is three this afternoon, is that right?" Yugi asked as he disappeared from behind the counter and off into the back before Atemu could reply. He emerged several moments later with a box.

"What have you got there?" Atemu asked titling his head to one side.

Yugi placed the box on the counter as he shifted his deck off to one side. "Just some cards."

Atemu gave him a blank look before he began to catch on. "You want to help me create a deck to beat Pegasus?"

"Kind of," Yugi said and he turned to face Atemu. Leaning one hand on the head of the box he then began to explain. "You have never seen Pegasus play a game of Duel Monsters, is that correct?"

"No, I have not."

"Then, it would be a smart option for me to show you the sorts of cards you will likely face when you do, although you will not be just be facing him with just any old cards."

"Are there cards in that box that will do the job?"

"No," Yugi admitted, his eyes dropped back to the box. "Inside is a copy of Pegasus' very deck that I have been replicating for quite some time."

"Why?"

Yugi smirked as he picked the flaps of the box open and pulled out a brand-new deck of cards. Once the box was out of the way he proceeded to place the deck in the centre of the table.

"I have been collecting the cards ever since the conversation we had about the possibility of entering the regional tournament. I know for one that knowing the opponent's decks before the actual duels are very helpful."

"You want me to face Pegasus with the very deck that he used to become king?"

"No," Yugi said, his eyes trailing over to his own deck as he reached forward to pick it up and wave it before Atemu's face. "I want you to use mine."

Atemu's eyes widened. "But I cannot use your deck, those are your cards, your grandfather bled his whole heart and soul into it. I cannot do such a thing!"

Yugi studied him for a moment, before he reached for Atemu's limp left hand. He effectionally caressed the soft skin as he turned it over until it was sitting palm up. Yugi then placed his deck into Atemu's hand. Before Atemu could react he was caught off guard by Yugi leaning over the counter and whispering in a husky voice into his ear.

"There is no way you can lose if you believe in the heart of the cards. My grandfather gave his deck to me through love and that is how it is such a strong deck, it is how I can put my whole soul into every game and never fail. I am now doing the same. Here is my heart, my strength and hope to go out there and beat the bastard at his own game."

Yugi let go of his deck, pulling back as his eyes reconnected with Atemu's wide expression. Atemu swallowed hard as he looked down at the deck, his voice quivered slightly as he spoke into the deck.

"Yugi, I do not know what I could ever have done to have been given such a gift, but I will wear it well," his head titled back up. "Thank you."

Yugi turned back to Pegasus' deck. "Why don't we get started shall we?"

Atemu agreed as he proceeded to ready his deck. His stomach already building with anticipation and confidence. He was going to face Pegasus this time and he was going to win.

X


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N Hello everyone. Here is the late chapter! I have the last few in the works as i finally have time to edit them and publish them. The duel in this chapter is using some of the duel that Pegasus had with Yugi in the first series of Yugioh, except i changed dialogue and setting. I dd this because i am not an expert in the card game, but i really liked the duel on yugioh. Also, this is not meant to be the main focus of the story so this will be the most you will see of card games from now on. I expect when the next games happen there will be more going on. I promise a cute Atemu/Yugi scene nest chapter. _

**Chapter 13**

* * *

Atemu looked down at the scribble on the piece of paper which was his own handwriting to check that he had found the right place. His eyes scanned the sign of the café and then let his eyes duck through the window to see if he could spot any more positive signs.

Pegasus was here.

The long blond teen was seated at a single table near the window which looked out onto the street. He looked rather relaxed as he sipped at a cup of tea and looked in Atemu's direction. He snapped his eyes away and he pushed his way through the front door.

Atemu strolled on confidently over to the empty chair which sat opposite Pegasus. As he sat down he felt his hands stroking his trouser pocket and then his insides relaxed when he realized the deck was still with him. Yugi's strength in the cards gave him the courage to face Pegasus even if he did not completely believe he had nearly enough skills to beat a champion like him.

Yugi should be facing Pegasus, not him. But, Atemu knew that this was the only way that he himself and Yugi could all get their revenge and put a stop to the teen's mind games and tactics.

Atemu held a straight face as he sunk into the café seat and observed the other teen's attire. Pegasus was clad in a red velvet jacket and a frilly white shirt which was tucked into polished black plants. The crazy outfit made him the centre of attention in the quiet café.

"Yami-boy!" Pegasus exclaimed, putting his cup delicately down in his saucer.

Atemu glared at Pegasus, he was not in the mood for the man's sarcastic greetings. Pegasus seemed to find Atemu's displeasure a fuel to feed on for it made his cheery mood last a lot longer than any normal person. But Pegasus was not normal. Pegasus laughed manically as he fold his arms and proceeded to engage in a staring contest with the other teen.

Five minutes later as the sound of laughter subsided so did the contest as Pegasus broke contact to take a final sip of his tea. He did not seem bothered by the loss for as his eyes pushed back up on Atemu his smile curved into a secret smirk. Atemu gave himself a smile for his small victory and he raised an eyebrow at Pegasus.

"Are you ready to lose again?" Atemu challenged.

"I have something Yami-boy which you might want to think about before you challenge me so freely."

Atemu's smile fell as he narrowed his eyes. He found his legs slamming down on the floor as he threw his body forward to lean forward against the table. "Like what?"

Pegasus wobbled his eyebrows. "I have heard that you father has been in town."

Atemu dropped his eyes to look at the table. "That is none of your business."

Pegasus titled his head to one side as he regarded the teen's actions before he began to stroke his chin and observe his nails. "He left this morning according to my sources and would be almost in Egypt in six hours' time."

Atemu titled his head back up and he clenched the edges of the table. "What are you poking at?"

"I am intending to blackmail you, obviously."

Atemu let his body relax as he realised Pegasus still thought he could play the same tricks that he had been playing on him months ago. They would not work anymore. Atemu let himself smile as he leaned back into his chair and watched the displeasure begin to swim through Pegasus' eyes.

He replied calmly. "Whatever you intend to say It will not change my mind."

Pegasus pursed his lips together. "Is that so?" His eyes dropped to the table top as he began to dance his fingers along it, they had done a full circuit around his cup when they stalled suddenly and he looked expectantly back at Atemu. "What if we agreed that if you decided to ditch the little Japanese boy I will not tell your father that you have been sleeping with boys behind his back?"

Atemu's eyes widened as he came to the realisation of what Pegasus was intending to do. He quickly tried to calm down because he did not want Pegasus use that against him. "You know Pegasus I do not care what my father thinks of me and my relationship with Yugi."

Pegasus laughed. "So you _are_ sleeping with Yugi-boy?"

Atemu rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I did not say that."

"Then what is it?" Pegasus asked as he tried to hold back laughs. "Why would someone of your stature like a little middle schooler like him?"

Atemu refused to reply to Pegasus' questions as he pulled out the old deck and placed it down on the table between them like a knight offering a gauntlet down as a challenge. Pegasus eyed the worn out collection of cards and his smile grew even wider as his amusement sent shivers through Atemu. Seeing the deck confirmed to Pegasus just how deep their bond went.

Pegasus slowly raised a hand up and beckoned a man over to the table. A man who before now Atemu had failed to notice and as he glanced around the room he realised there was a large number of Pegasus' men dressed in sharp back suits and shining glasses. As he returned to the table he watched as the man handed over a red box to Pegasus and then returned to his spot in the shadows.

Pegasus placed the box down on the table and gracefully opened the lid, treating it like a priceless artefact which was delicate and equally valuable. Inside the box, seated on an expensive velvet material was a deck of cards. Pegasus smiled as he took his deck out and pushed the box off to the side, turning it over and stroking the cards with affection.

Pegasus' attention was averted from the cards when he heard the sound of Atemu clearing his throat. He chuckled as he then placed his deck down and looked up.

"Now let's get this sorted before we begin," Atemu said. "If I win you will leave Yugi alone and you will accept gracefully that he will compete in the tournament. Also if he wins the tournament you promise that you will leave school. Return to your family in America it is what you really want to do anyway."

"But it is so much fun!" Pegasus chuckled. "I love telling everyone what to do."

"But it is more than that," Atemu snapped back. "People are getting hurt."

"Fine," Pegasus sulked as he put on a pout. "But there is also my side of the deal. When I win you and Yugi boy will never play games again. You will for fill your promise to me and get rid of Yugi-boy once and for all or your father will know a few things about his son that he never wished he knew."

"If you win I would listen to you without the need for blackmail."

"Oh, but like I said," Pegasus said. "I like being in control. I find it amusing watching people squirm."

Atemu rolled his eyes as proceeded to pick up his hand and Pegasus quickly followed. As they took the moment to observe their cards Atemu's thoughts turned to Yugi and of all the things they could have been doing to enjoy a nice Saturday afternoon. He was doing this so we could enjoy more afternoons with Yugi.

"Why don't you just make your move?" Atemu suggested irritably.

Pegasus proceeded to pull a card from the top of his deck to examine it, before he looked up at Atemu this a look of pleasure. Atemu took that as an indication for him to make his move and he pulled a card of his own up to have a look at it.

Once he had chosen a simple defence set-up with a magic card and a monster in defence mode he nodded at Pegasus to make his next move.

"Sneaky, sneaky boy," Pegasus sang as he played his own cards out. "I place one card face down and then play Red Archery Girl in defence mode. Let's see you Beaver Warrior handle that."

Atemu's eyes widened. How in the world did he work that out? Did he have someone nearby with an ear piece telling him what card he was playing? Atemu dared a glance back and saw no signs of anymore fitting that description, although it could have been anyone in the café in that moment. He looked back at Pegasus and saw the same bemused grin on the teen's face. He realised in that moment why Pegasus had so many men hanging behind him and he found himself becoming infatuated with what might be hidden behind the man's long hair.

"Are you just about finished panicking?" Pegasus asked.

Atemu narrowed his eyes in frustration, trying to ignore the taunts as he looked down at his cards. He need to concentrate and remember what he and Yugi had gone through during the day. He had a strategy and any card Pegasus threw at him now should not be in the least bit surprising. It was still unnerving however by the fact that he had correctly guessed his face-down monster. He just hoped the goons had not seen the magic card either.

"Well, since you have seen through by strategy so early on I switch Beaver Warrior to attack mode and combined his attack with Horn of the Unicorn to give him enough power to attack your red Archery Girl!" Atemu revealed. He did not know what his attack would provoke, but he needed to start testing Pegasus' boundaries and his own. "I attack your monster."

"Too bad, my magic card Tears of a Mermaid retract your attack back at your little beaver and removes the effects of the magic card. From here I can switch my monster to attack mode and destroy your monster. Goodbye two hundred life points!"

Atemu took a slow deep breath as he realised his mistake. He glared at Pegasus before he looked back at his hand. He needed to believe in Yugi if he was to win. He needed to trust that the cards which were in this deck were the best at defeating Pegasus.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Pegasus looked pleased and he looked down to consult his hand. After a moment he placed Ryu-Ran, a monster card, in defence mode, followed by a quick switch of the Archery Girl into defence mode.

Atemu took his silence as the end of his turn and he looked quickly down at his hand as he drew Summon Skull from his deck. The smile Pegasus shared with him in that moment suggested he knew exactly what card he had drawn. He chose to ignore the revelation as he quickly looked at his cards for aid. He could still win even if Pegasus knew all the cards he drew.

He had Magical Hats, Celtic Guardian, the Spellbinding Circle and another not so useful card for this present moment. He looked back to see what was on the field before be decided on his next move.

"Well since it is my turn will place this card face down and then I will place my Summon Skull in defence mode."

"Are we done?" Pegasus asked as he looked rather bored with waiting for Atemu to make a move. "Good, now I will switch my Ryu-Ran into attack mode and I destroy your monster card!"

"No so fast," Atemu interjected as he turned over his face-down card to reveal the spellbinding circle. "Your attack is not only blocked, but your monster loses 200 attack points making it weaker than my monster."

Pegasus gave his opponent a look of shock as he full his arms up in the air and held his head back. "Oh no whatever am I going to do to get out of this mess?"

"For my final move I destroy your monster with my own," Atemu explained as he reached forward to snatch Pegasus's monster and Pegasus quickly placed down a card on the table.

"Actually I think my Ryu-Ran will live to fight another battle with this trap card," Pegasus said as he began to turn over a magic card. "Trace Displacement. It allows me to remove the trap you placed on my monster and put it on your own, making your own monster 200 points weaker and thus unable to attack my own monster effectively."

Pegasus smirked as he took the Summon Scull card and placed it in the grave yard.

"For my next turn I play the magic card Toon World. This magic card turns my monsters into unstoppable toons, protecting them inside of its walls until I order them to attack your own monsters."

Atemu could recall Yugi warning him about this card. It was one of Pegasus' more unique magic cards which had allowed him to win so many duels in the past. He would have to be careful with this one.

"My Ryu-Ran will now attack your face-down monster and send it straight to the grave yard."

Atemu sighed as he took his face down card and slipped in onto the ever building up pile of dead monsters. He needed to think of something quick or all his life points would be gone before he knew it. Yugi had suggested that the best line of attack against tune world-a card unique to Pegasus that he had won at a national event- would be to take the defensive, rather than going all out to destroy him.

Atemu decided to play the Celtic Guardian in attack mode, using a last ditch attempt to test out the strength of the so-called toons, and yet again he saw his card going straight to the grave yard. That at least confirmed attacking was not the correct way to approach it.

Pegasus laughed.

"It's my turn Yami-boy!"

He placed two cards faced down and quickly it was Atemu's turn once more. Atemu glanced at his hand of Magical Hats, and various other cards. He had no other choice, he could not risk losing more life points and risking a monster was better than that.

He reached out to put a monster face-down in defence mode.

"I will know reveal my trap Gordon's eye this will allow me to permanently see any monster you place on the field in defensive mode and render it useless," He turned the monster over smirking. "And the other thing is when I destroy your monster half of their defence points gets removed from your life points."

Atemu grimaced as he realised rather quickly that Pegasus had caught onto his plan. He had almost nothing left to think of next which might help reverse all of the cards currently in play. He looked down at the field for a moment as he studied it and then looking at Yugi's deck he felt a sudden sense of hope and warmth radiate from it. There was still hope.

"I now play the card Doppelganger this will allow me to imitate any card I like from your side of the field. The twist is that it can also be monsters that have been sent to the graveyard and I choose your summon skull!" Pegasus indicated flamboyantly to the graveyard pile. "I will use my monster now to send your own monster to the grave yard, say good bye to more of your precious life points."

Atemu reluctantly move his monster to the pile.

"It won't be long now until you are my knight once more, and Yugi's duelling days over."

Atemu felt his ears perk at Pegasus' comment. He knew that Pegasus had been paranoid about his friend entering the next tournament, but was he seriously that serious about the whole 'get rid of Yugi' thing?

"Pegasus I am rather curious," Atemu began. "What is it about Yugi that you are scared about?"

Pegasus looked at Atemu surprised by his question. "Did you not know that he was the national champion nearly three years ago?"

Atemu nodded.

"This it would be obvious to you that since I have found out about this I have been eager to remove him the duelling scene all together."

'It would seem that you are too scare to face Yugi on your own so you would have others sort him out for you," Atemu observed. "Why don't you stop being scared and actually try to be good at games rather than being dirty about it? And to make yourself feel that tiny bit better I will let you know that Yugi had not planned to enter the tournament until you sent me after him. He now wants to challenge you for the soul purpose of showing you and everyone that they do not need to follow a false king. So really you can be thanking yourself for that."

"Then why is he not here today duelling in your place Yami-boy?"

"Because we both have a score to settle with you," Atemu admitted. "And he is never very far away anyway, if you take into account that I am using his own deck that he used to win the national tournament three years ago. His grandfather's own deck."

"It is obvious then that you and Yugi have strong feelings for each other," Pegasus observed. "I once felt that way about a girl. We had fallen in love and she had been the only girl to say that she would one day marry me. We were six years old and on the seventh birthday she had told me that her parents were moving to America and a week later she flew away and I never saw her again. Sometimes I hope that if become wealthy enough and famous enough through playing Duel Monsters that I will get to see her again, but I cannot even remember her name."

Atemu had to laugh quietly to himself as Pegasus recalled a fond memory. It made sense in a way why Pegasus was wanting to become King of Games, he was in it for love. But over the year it had become something more an addicting obsession for a boy to become the most powerful game masters that Atemu did not think Pegasus' aims were as obvious as love any more. Power was more powerful than love in his eyes, and it scared Atemu.

"Now returning to our duel," Pegasus said. "Now you only have 900 life points after that last turn and I still have the full 2000. I wonder how you are going to win now."

The teen on the opposite end rolled his eyes. Reaching into his deck he picked up the Dark Magician.

Yugi's favourite card.

It was the symbol of hope that he needed and he knew that he could pull through with this card.

"I will play the Dark Magician I attack mode and I protect him with the magic card Magical Hats," Atemu placed the two cards down, but he had one more trick up his sleeve. "And then I pick a card from my deck which will go automatically to the field face-down."

"And why would you do such a silly thing?"

"I have been noticing that throughout this whole duel so far you goons have been keep track of the cards in my hand and they have been mouthing codes to you, giving you a clear advantage in the long run so I thought I could just try out this one trick to see how we both fair now. Knowing that an unknown card is on the field anything can happen."

Pegasus was looking slightly frustrated. Atemu smirked and added another face-down card for good measure. He just hoped his mindless bluffing paid off.

Pegasus said nothing and he attempted to attack the dark magician with the his summon skull copy-cat, unfortunate because of the magic hats magic card the only thing it attacked ended up being one of the face-down magic cards Living Arrow.

Atemu threw his few hand up in the air. "This card can infect any card it likes on the field, whether that be a magic card or a monster card and I choose to attack your Tune World!"

Pegasus shrugged. "That does not matter I can still vanquish your monster!"

"And you just attacked my other face down card Mirror Force this trap card reverts your attack right back at your monster making your Summon Skull copy-cat a goner because with your Toon World gone your monsters are no longer safe from all being whipped out."

Pegasus did not look as calm and collected as he did moment ago. His glared at Atemu. "I think you must have cheated, there was no way you could have pulled those two cards off like that without even looking at your hands!"

Atemu shook his head calmly, he too was surprised that they had work as well as they had. Pegasus looked like he was about to walk out on the duel before it had even finished, but he sat back down and reclaimed his cards after staring his opponent down.

"I think that makes our life points at present 900 to me and 600 to you," Atemu explained as he began to rethink his next move.

"Whilst you celebrate your small victory I will play my monster Dark Illusionist," Pegasus began placing a card down. "Now before you go pointing out how low its points are I would have you know that this is a very rare card. It will likely surprise you if you were just brave enough to test it."

"I will play Cruse of Dragon in attack mode!"

"Well, if you are done than I will play the magic card Dark Illusionist Ritual this card will allow to sacrifice my current monster to summon Relinquished who also has a very interesting secret. It will now absorb your curse of dragon."

Atemu decided to his only option from there was to attack with his Dark Magician. However this quickly backfired.

"As you see your Curse of Dragon saved my monster from you own attack and because it was destroy you lose some life points. 500 to be exact," Pegasus teased.

"So I take now it will absorb the Dark Magician as well?"

"That is correct."

Atemu sighed. He had no monsters or cards to defend himself. And all the cards in his hands were no much help either. He looked at his deck and he felt the same feeling of dread. He only had once change, could he risk it again?

He close his eyes and reached for the top of the deck, one… two… three…

He dared to peep down at the card. He smiled as he saw what he had been hoping for and he quickly placed it face down on the field. For good measure he also added a monster in defence mode, an average levelled golem creature.

Pegasus quickly attacked the golem creature and then handed the turn back over to Atemu.

"Have you given up yet?"

Atemu ignored Pegasus and he reached down to grab another card, looking down he breathed a sigh of relief. He proceeded to place the Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress down on the field in defence mode.

"Bye bye winged dragon!"

The card was quickly destroyed.

"Now it's my turn and the final card to win this whole duel!" Pegasus placed a card down on the field. "Jigen Bakudan, a self-destructing time bomb and in two moves it will destroy all monsters on my side of the field, and since my own monster has zero of everything my life points will be unaffected, however your monster will be sent to the grave yard and wipe out the rest of your life points."

"Not so fat Pegasus you have forgotten that I have a few more turns left before it is all over."

Atemu picked a card quickly up, satisfied he quickly implemented it into play. "I play the Mystic Box and its ability allows me to free my Dark Magician and put your time bomb in its place. This means that when it goes off both your monster will explode!"

"Are you serious?" Pegasus panicked. "There is nothing I can do!"

"Then I take it that it is my turn again?"

Pegasus frowned.

Atemu pulled a card out and placed it down. "I use my card Brain Control to control your monster for one whole turn. Valiquished."

Pegasus laughed finding something hilarious about the whole situation. Atemu chose to ignore the maniacs torments as he decided it would be about time to use his face-down magic card, he turned it over. "I will now use Dark Magic Ritual in which I need to use a double offering of monsters so I use the two I have on my side of the field in other to create the Magician of Black Chaos."

Atemu realised Pegasus had lost all signs of amusement. His face had huddled over the table as he listened to his defeat being play out through Atemu's voice.

"And to finish my turn I place two face-down cards."

Pegasus glanced up, sighing he threw his entire hand into the middle of the field. "I give up, finish me off!"

"You forget that after one turn your monster returns to your side of the field."

"Why does it matter?" Pegasus muttered. "You are going to finish me off next move any way."

Atemu did not know how to reply to Pegasus' sudden revelation to give up.

"Why am I even fighting you?" He asked.

Atemu shrugged. "You desperately want to be king."

Pegasus sudden stopped mopping as a smirk formed on the kings face. He placed hand back on top of his deck and he stood up. "I must congratulate you that you were better than I thought you were."

"So you give up?"

"No more rather I was never really playing to begin with. I was just duelling you to see what sort of duellist you are and now I know. You are not going to give up so easily and will be quite a completion is the tournament."

"Why are you leaving?"

"Can't you tell our deal was just a poly to get you to play a game with me? I never intended to win or uphold my end of the bargain. I only let true duellist have the honour of losing to me."

"Why waste my time?"

"Let's just say I was testing you for the big one."

Atemu felt his insides quenching as he looked down at the half-finished game of cards. Pegasus' servant had returned to gather up his master's cards back into a nicely wrapped deck as Pegasus continued to laugh.

He left the café as quickly as he had suddenly surrendered his game of cards and as Atemu watched him go he could not help but feel a wave of panic wash over him. Pegasus had been planning all along to deceive him. First there was the attempt at cheating with the ear piece and secondly surrendering a game before he had even lost.

It seemed it would not be solved that easily.

* * *

Vivian laughed as her friend recalled the moment he surrendered. Pegasus' eyes shone as he looked at her briefly before his mind returned back to other matters. "And now it is time to plan our next step."

Vivian as an all-knowing smile crossed her face. "And what would that be?"

"Yami has had one victory today," Pegasus spat. "But, he will find that this comes at a cost."

"In what way?"

Pegasus' darting eyes caught on to Vivian's own as a smug smile travelled up the corners of his face. "We are going to take everything that Yami holds dear to him."


End file.
